Finding Papa
by UsagiMitsu
Summary: NARUTO SPOILERS AHEAD! Do not read if you have not finished the series or have started with Naruto Gaiden yet please! It's a story about young Bolts and Saradas lifes from the age of 14 on and beyond. Family issues, hunger for power, assbutt boys,... and challenges, maybe not on world destroying level, but enough to get everyones world to shake again...
1. Chapter 01: Haruno Sarada

WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! FIRST READ NARUTO CHAPTER 700!

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Chapter 1: Haruno Sarada

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„Hey, how about we hang out together some time," a blonde boy was leaning at the grey wall. He had a huge grin on his face between his cheeks. The girl he was talking to didn't look pleased. Her face was a bright red and she was sweating like crazy.

"…I don't think that's a really good idea… If you-"

"Oh come on," the boy smiled even brighter and leaned in, giving her a wink, "hey why won't you try it out some time? What could possibly go wrong?"

"What could go wrong? Everything! Bolt... everything."

A second girl stood behind him. She had rather short black hair, dark eyes and wore glasses. Her body was a little shorter than Bolts but it did not bother her at all.

"Oh hey there…" Bolt turned around and faced his old nemesis, "I would sincerely appreciate it, if you would please stop interfering with me when I am about to get a date, Haruno." He grabbed the girls shoulder and pulled her at him, "am I not right, Momoka?" The girl named Momoka squeaked.

"God please Bolt, let her go," the so called Haruno girl sighted, tore of Bolts arm from around Momoka and let her go.

"Momoka! Wait! Please, come on! Damn it Sarada, you need to stop cock blocking me …"

"And you should stop, trying to pick up girls. Really, don't you have any class," Sarada tipped her glasses and rolled her eyes. She had known the idiot Bolt since they were kids. Their parents had always been friends, which was why they almost grew up together: One day he would be at her place (maybe if his parents were on an official greeting) or she would be with him and his little sister (if her mother had work at the hospital).

Sarada barely knew her father. She knew his name, background, and why he wasn't with them all the time. But she didn't know the man everybody called 'Uchiha Sasuke'. Of course they talked. And when she still had been young, she would always try to impress him with her knowledge and intelligence, her body control and ninjutsu. She even tried to master the sharingan for him. But he never acknowledged her in that way. He told her to not awaken her kekkei-genkai at any cost and turned again to talk to Bolts father, Naruto. Sarada still remembered that it was about "…the people from the northern hideout have left Orochimarus influence…" and "…do you know about the people form the other continent…" She then had been sent away to play with Bolt and his younger sister Himawari. The little girl was all too innocent in Saradas view. But she was more kind than her big brother. At least...

"You are a pain in the ass four eyes."

"Call me that again and I will cut of your balls and feed it to the Inuzukas dogs!"

With this she turned around, picked up her heavy bag (it was filled with books from the library) and put on her street shoes.

The sun was up high and birds flew over. It was a peaceful time. The last war had been the fourth shinobi world war their parents had fought years ago and Sarada had grown up in a very calm part of Konoha. The city itself had grown like crazy over the last few years: around the traditional part of it, huge skyscrapers had been built on top of the mountain behind old Konoha and the population had almost tripled within the last 5 years. But only the ones who were actual ninjas were allowed to live in flats and houses in the old part of the town, because all the important institutes were still placed there, as was the shinobi academy.

The old and the new part were connected by a huge staircase withing the mountain and a number of elevators. But Sarada didn't have to use them.

She sometimes visited friends in the city, went shopping there or met everybody to go and have a drink or two. But not today. Today she walked down the stony road to her home. She lived with her mother, Haruno Sakura, in a nice flat in the upper level of an old house close to the academy. Sarada had her own room and balcony. She appreciated it.

Her mother was always chatty and wanted to know everything about Sarada, but the girl herself wasn't like that. She loved getting information with those talks, just nothing else.

"Welcome back," Sakura chirped and hugged her daughter as soon as the girl had entered, "have you been at the library again? You must already know all the books by heart."

"I try mum," Sarada smiled, "uhm… where are you going? I thought you didn't have a shift?"

"I'm going to meet some old friends… You know… aunt Ino and the others. Do you want to come with me?"

"If I come, you won't be able to talk like you always do right?"

Sakura looked at her daughter with a sad look on her face, "I'm so sorry dear."

"You don't have to be," Sarada showed her mother the bag, "I have brought home some work!"

"Don't tell me its ninja legends again," Sakura gave her daughter a hug, "see you tomorrow. Dinner is ready, just warm it up!"

"Bye mum!"

The door was shut and the girl took in a deep breath. She slipped on her warm socks, packed her cuddle blanket and sat down on the couch in the living room. Dinner smelled wonderful –Sakura probably probably made her rumored tomato omuraisu (rice, tomatoes, cheese) - but Sarada wasn't hungry anyway.

Just yesterday she had found an interesting book with old ninja stories. She knew all about the last war, how her father and the Hokage had the old powers used by the Ootsuki clan and how humans became ninjas. But there was so much more to it. In times, long ago, there had been many more kekkei genkais and techniques, which had been forgotten. And Sarada wanted to know about it.

She had mastered the basics of taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu when she just entered academy – to impress her dad, she was not allowed to train her own special ability… So she started to search for her own way. Mum Sakura trained her daughter of course a little in medicine and fighting like she did herself, but Sarada was not interested in it. It was too easy for her. And it wouldn't impress her father.

* * *

Some hours of reading later, Sarada got up and switched on the light. She still wasn't hungry. She never felt hungry, but she knew, if she didn't eat anything, her mother would get angry again. With just a few hand swipes, she warmed up some of the food and ate it while going on with the book. It described a power which could control all powers of nature. And it wasn't a kekkei genkai. Now she just had to find out if those powers were real and actually achievable. But the part about being "real" was just getting destroyed by the book bit by bit and with and angry growl, she threw it into a corner.

"Damn it… I thought I had something…" Sarada growled when the doorbell rang. A quick look on the big clock on the wall told her that it was already ten in the night. If it was her mum, she would surely use her keys. So the question was: Who would want to talk to them in the freaking middle of the night?

Sarada corrected her glasses, slipped away from under her warm cover and slowly made her way to the door. Maybe whoever it was just went away if she took too long?

She wasn't that lucky.

Whoever was out there rang the bell a second time, just before she opened it.

"Oh please it's the middle of the freaking ni-"

In front of her was a tall man, with shoulder length black hair which covered his left eye. He was dressed in a dark navy coat, over a white shirt and dark pants.

They looked at each other for a moment. Then, Sarada opened the door completely and let him in.

"Do you need your slippers?"

He nodded and she handed them over.

"Mom made omurice… Do you want some?"

"hm…" the man didn't say anything. Sarada knew him only like this. She was probably not interesting enough for him to pick up a conversation.

* * *

"Here you go," she said and placed a steaming plate with Sakuras cooking in front of him at the dinner table.

He sat in the chair which was usually empty.

Sarada went back to reading. She picked up the book she had thrown away earlier, put it on the stack of 'not useable' book and started the next one. It was about kuchiyose animals: 'A short history of Animals and Human Cooperation'.

She didn't notice how the man stood up and put away his plate. She only noticed when she felt his eyes on her.

"Was it good?"

"Yes."

Wow we are already up to words! A small success for me I guess?

"Moms cooking is always delicious," Sarada went back to reading.

"How old are you now?" The man had taken out a bottle from the liquor shelf and a glass. He poured himself a small drink, "do you..?"

"Thanks but I am 14. I don't drink alcohol you know?"

He nodded, held up the glass like cheering with her and drank some. "So... how are you doing?"

Sarada sighted and put her book away, "I'm fine. I guess."

"School?"

"I finished three years ago… I am currently being prepared for the second try on the chunin exams."

"Why did you fail the first time?"

"Why is our ceiling white and not black? Enough…" Sarada closed her book, put it down and went to put her plate in the dishwasher.

Sasuke picked up her book and looked it through. Was his daughter really reading fairytales? Not just fairytales. Old fairytales.

"Do you like books?" Sarada had come back into the living room to pick up her stuff.

"Not in particular. Some of them hold information. But other than that."

"Please give it to me."

"Where are you going?"

"To bed."

"You don't want to talk to me, do you?"

"I could ask the same question."

There was an awkward silence between them. They looked at each other.

She saw Uchiha Sasuke. The man she should call father or dad or even papa. But she didn't feel like it. She knew, he couldn't live in town, he wasn't permitted to. When she was younger, she would always ask her mother to please come with him, every time he left. And her mother would just stroke her hair and shake her head. If he ever came around. Every 10 months or something. The last few times, he had messaged them beforehand. So Sarada had avoided him. They saw each other again after almost five years now. She didn't want to see him. Ever again.

And Sasuke? Sasuke saw his daughter. He saw Sakuras face and his features, mixed with the stubbornness of his old teammate Karin from long ago. He didn't know anything about her. Except for the fairytale books.

He was about to say something, when a key was turned in the door lock and Sakura came in.

"Sarada? I saw you had the lights still on. Shouldn't you be already…" she stopped when she realized, what she had walked into.

"Hey Mum. Sasuke has come home. He already ate. I'm going to bed."

And with this the girl picked up her blanket, books and ran upstairs.

Sakura slowly approached Sasuke, "I didn't know you would be back tonight."

"Me neighter," he pulled her close and kissed her, "…"

"Hey… its ok… She is just… well… It's kind of new for her to see you I guess."

"Maybe? But.. why does she call me 'Sasuke'?"

"It's your name, isn't it?"

"Not daddy, not papa… but Sasuke?"

"When she is angry, she even refers to you as 'that Uchiha'… I'm sorry dear."

She hugged him tightly, "she will get used to it again. I promise. So…" Sakura took his hands and pulled him with herself on the couch, "how long are you staying?"

Sasuke brushed her some hair out of the face. A loving gesture.

"I don't know yet. Maybe a week?"

"That's great... Then you might get to know each other a little more?"

"Maybe… but for now… I would like to get to know you a little better."

Sakura grinned and Sasuke kissed her.

"I'll be alright…"

End Chapter 1

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**_Hey guys! It's me again!_**

_And I won't let you down this time. I finally found some time again to write and I already love it. _

_This is going to be a fanfiction about Sasukes daughter Sarada (whyever he called her the Japanese word for 'salad'... poor girl). I am not sure they are actually married so, she is Haruno Sarada for me. I will probably get to the point later in the story._

_No, Sasuke is not an asshole. Just... not as social as other people ;)_

_The boy Bolt is Narutos eldest son. I think he is kind of... He has his fathers selfconfidence and is working on to get his mothers decency. Since I made them all round about 7 years older than in the Naruto chapter 700, I have much more oportunitys than just childrensstorys. _

_So, next thursday there will be another chapter of 'Finding Papa'!_

_For all the people already reading 'Our Dream': Tune in on Sunday for the promised two new chapters! I won't let you down.._

_Thank you for reading this chapter, please tell me how you liked it! Its still just a scratch and I need to cook my ideas down for it so, your opinion is always welcome. But please: don't be rude :)_

**_Greetings!_**

**_Usagi_**


	2. Chapter 02: A Konoha morning

I want to thank everybody for reading this story! Thank you for 41 followers, 25 favourites and 12 reviews within one week! _You are awesome_.

In the afterword, I will answer the reviews! Have fun!

Chapter 2: A Konoha morning

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The next morning the alarm clock went off at 5:30. It was a children's clock in dark blue with little flying elephants on it. Sarada considered herself not a child anymore since some time now, but she couldn't get herself to buy a new one, which is why she would wake up every morning to the same old tune '_…when I see an elephant fly, when I see an elephant fly,…_'. It had been her favorite children's movie and tune, but now she just hit the off-button and flicked on the light.

Sarada was no morning person. With her eyes half closed she made her way to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

"Look out... Look out… Pink elephants on parade… Here they come… Hippety hoppety," she hummed quietly and yawned.

Getting dressed never seemed to take so long. She had noticed the third toothbrush and remembered the evening before. This wasn't easy to avoid somebody who lived in the same house as you did. How long would he stay? However, she would not wait until he found out that she was not going to make it easy for him to catch her.

With a deep sight, Sarada looked at herself in the mirror. It was 'work day', which meant practical clothes: white long leggings, a thin kimono style dark blue top, black finger-tip free gloves and her headband. She took it from her nightstand and knotted it around her left upper arm. There was only one thing left: Her necklace. It was an older one, made out of a leather strap with three donut shaped metal rings on it. It was kind of her guardian angel necklace thing.

Hair back? Glasses on?.

With everything set up, Sarada tip toed downstairs. Do not wake anybody… do not wake- The kitchen light was on. She could hear the shifting of plates, frying pans and the sound of something cooking in the big pot her mum always used for oden. Sarada came slowly closer and peeked in.

Right in front of her, was her father. He was completely dressed and had, it looked at least like it, made breakfast.

Wait, her father had made breakfast?

"Do you want something before you go?" Sarada twitched and entered the kitchen with a guilty look on her face.

"How long have you..?"

"Since your alarm went off," he put a plate with food on the kitchen table, "do you want miso soup?" So that's what had been boiling in the big pot.

The girl confused, but sat down and nodded, "uhm.. ok?"

He hadn't only cooked soup, but also made rice, fried fish and omelet. She dug in.

"That's delicious… where did you learn to cook?"

Sasuke leaned back at the kitchen counter with half a smirk on his face.

"I grew up on my own. I had to make my breakfast from a very early age on," he got himself some tab water, "good to hear you like it."

She ate the rest in silence. When she was done, Sarada stood up.

"I will clean up. When are you meeting your group," he picked up her plate and turned around.

"At seven I think."

"Aren't you a little early? It's just six?"

"I need to be. Otherwise I would just get mad at my team partner immediately and punch them in the face. I'm not as strong as mum… but well," Sarada put on her shoes and fixed her equipment bags, "I think I could still break his jaw."

"Not a morning person hm. Take care." Sasuke watched his daughter open the door, but held her back for a second.

"I wanted to ask you, if you want to meet when you are done today?"

Sarada was straddled.

"…why not? If you are free… I will pick you up here?"

"Ok... see you this afternoon."

And she closed the door.

* * *

The morning was still cold, even though the sun was already sending her first rays across the town. Morning dew lingered on all the leaves and only a few other people were already up.

Sarada took her time to get to her meeting point. She knew all the paths where she would not meet anyone at this hour and she could cool of her head.

Her father had asked for a "date". Or how should she call it? A father-daughter thingy?

"Well… That's a first…"

But there were other problems. She had ruined her teammate's day not even 24 hours ago. Bolt would be pissed. But if he got on her nerves, she would just make him shut up. And then her sensei would just scold them again. No, he wasn't worth the trouble.

She reached the meeting point at 6:30.

20 minutes later a young woman joined her.

"Good morning Sarada! As early as always I see," she smiled. It was a pretty smile with blinking white teeth. Her appearance wasn't very special. She wore the usual jonin get up without any big special. Only her locks were interesting: She wore them in a high pigtail and had the black tips dyed purple.

"Good morning Ako-sensei, how are you doing?" Sarada gave her best smile.

"I'm fine, I guess. Shall we make a bet how late our third member will be today," the teacher winked and sat on a bench. "I would say… 30 minutes."

"Nice guess sensei, but I am sure he won't be here till eight," Sarada rolled her eyes.

"Wrong! Both of you…" a very unhappy blonde boy landed next to Ako-sensei. The girls were surprised.

"Wow Bolt, you are… more than punctual! You are even five minutes early. How come," the teacher took out a pack of gum and offered it to her students. Both of them shook their head. Ako-sensei was famous for her taste in spicy food and she did not except her chewing gum.

"...my dad…"

"So the Hokage kicked you out of bed personally! Awesome," Sarada started to laugh.

"How come you are so happy?! You know, the only reason my dad wakes up before mum on his own?" Bolt had frowned first. Now he grinned from ear to ear.

"What could it be? Is his favorite type of ramen on sale today?" (The current hokage was well-known for his love for ramen.)

But Bold just put his hands in his pockets.

"I mean, come on. Don't tell me you are in a good mood," there was a devilish grin on his face, "the only reason my dad would get up super early is right now sitting in your house."

"…" Sarada had stopped laughing.

"Your father is back, am I right? Sarada?"

She was about to answer, but Ako-sensei cut in. "Ok guys, enough for today. Please, we need to work as a team. I know you can do it!" She poked them both and smiled at them.

"You will see, it will all get better. So stop treating each other like punching bags for your bad emotions," the smile vanished from her face, "If Hotaru was here, he would want you to work together like always, ok? So… get a grip. Both of you."

The teenagers looked at each other for a second and nodded.

"Well, isn't that a lot better?"

* * *

The Hokages office was busy as always. People ran around, everybody was half in panic: The hokage had not shown up for work and had not been at home either. His wife Hinata couldn't tell right hand man Shikamaru where her husband had gone early in the morning and nobody except for his son had even seen him that day. This unexpected absence had overthrown the bureaus organization. Everything was in disarray and lady Shizune only gave the group a small D rank mission within the village.

Bolt didn't like it, but the girls just shrugged it off. They were genin and even on boring days, they were not allowed to do more than two missions at all. Without further complains they made their way to the river; collecting garbage…

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The sun had finally risen above the horizon and engulfed the village with its warming rays of light. Sasuke sat on the stone head of the fourth hokage and watched the village. He had his chakra suppressed, so nobody would notice him. It was quiet and calm. Some laughing children's voices could be heard. It was probably around eight and the academy lessons would start soon.

Sasuke heard footsteps and a familiar blonde sat next to him.

"Morning idiot," he grinned and held up his fist. Sasuke bumped his against Narutos.

"You look good, Mr. Hokage."

"Fits me right?" Naruto had matured with the years. He wasn't the old kid running around, playing pranks anymore. He had become more mature, thoughtful and critical. His changed personality was reflected by his now shorter hair and some wrinkles he already had gotten.

But with Sasuke, he was...

"You are still the same dobe as always huh."

"Kind of," he smiled.

They sat there quietly for some minutes.

"...did you tell them that you are taking some time off?"

"Why?"

"Just look." Sasuke pointed down where lots of people were running around.

"Aaaah they can manage. It's just for a day." Naruto stretched his arms, "so, good to have you back. What's the occasion?"

"Do I need to have a reason to be at home?"

"You just never come back without one you know," Naruto winked and poked Sasuke.

"Well… you caught me," he reached into his pockets and gave Naruto a paper. The blonde unfolded it and read it.

"A message? In what language?"

"You are hokage and still cannot read more than your native language? Oh boy… Shikamaru must have his hands full with you on the run…"

"Stop teasing me and get to the point," Naruto pouted. Sasuke sighted. That dobe would never change, wouldn't he?

"It's 'Hogo'."

"Hogo? Like… Language of the flames? Really now? Where the hell do you speak to flames?"

"In the flame country? Remember? The next big country southern of the wind country." Sasuke raised a brow at his pal.

"What does it say?"

"I would like to rather know why you couldn't even message me that you were not going to show up for work."

The blonde and raven turned around and faced an anger steaming Shikamaru.

"Naaa I'm sorry… but you know-"

"Sasuke is first priority. I know. Hi by the way." They nodded at each other, "just please get your butt down and help me. Work is waiting lord Hokage and time is ticking."

"Give me a break Shikamaru… Please, just till noon.

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets. "Till noon and if you don't show up on time…"

"Thanks buddy…"

"Don't thank me too early. You will have a long night... I promise. And Sasuke," the Hokage's adviser turned to the Uchiha, "good to see you. But please: Use the main entrance when you get here next time. If you do, I might get a little time to prepare the Hokage's absence."

"Got it."

"See you"

And he was gone again.

"Wow, quite a nanny you got there." Sasuke grinned at Naruto, "shall we get back to Hogo?"

"Stop teasing me… So what does it say?"

"They are making an alliance with some countries I bet you never heard of."

"An alliance? For what?"

"I don't know… but that is why I am here," he looked at Naruto, "I would like your permission to travel south. I want to go and gather information in secret about that matter."

Naruto observed his friend, "you suspect something, don't you? And there is something you know, you are not telling me." Sasuke didn't answer. The Hokage looked over the village. "It will take you longer than usual probably..."

"I know."

"What do I tell Sakura?"

"I will tell her the truth myself. She will understand."

"And your daughter..?"

Sasuke didn't answer at first.

"She will understand… somehow…"

But Naruto wasn't so sure.

* * *

The afternoon sun shone over Konoha.

Sarada sat in front of her house and read a magazine. It was filled with travel reports and hotel ads from southern countries: The shark country, coast country and the palm country. Those had just recently opened up after the end of the local civil wars and started a fluctuating tourist business. Sakura had promised her daughter that they would go on holiday over this year's Christmas together and Sarada was allowed to choose where to go. Maybe… just maybe, she could ask her father to join them this time.

A shadow suddenly fell on her and Sarada looked up.

"You are on time," she put the magazine in her bag and took the hand her father held out for her. He pulled her up. "So, where do you want to go?"

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. He had left his travelling coat and just wore his long black trousers and white shirt.

"Hm… would you mind showing me your around a little? I haven't been here in a while." A little lie. He knew almost all the places. But he wanted to know, where his daughter would bring him, what she thought was important.

"Ok… so…" she adjusted her glasses, "I would say… How about downtown? There is a nice café at the eastern garden. I like it... Do you want to try it?"

"Do they have tea?"

"…yes?"

"Then let's go."

End of chapter 2

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**_My dear readers!_**

_Thank you for all your support. You cannot imagine my face when I woke up the day after I uploaded this and had like... 40 new emails saying that a lot of awesome people like my story and want me to continue it. I will give my best and hope that you will like how the story will be developing._

_Within the week from the last chapter, I thought about different ideas for plots (I scratched the ones which would involve crossovers and making the kids almost celestial beings ;) but with alcohol, those sounded awesome to me...). In the end I decided to introduce "Hogo" in this chapter along with the "Country of Flames". I used a Naruto world map for my research and since it's quite a continent, I though the people there might speak a different language. I want to use this as a chance to see, how Naruto as Hokage is doing: good or rather not? ;) We will see :D But this is only the side plot._

_The story will especially focus on Sarada and Bolt. (I changed her name from 'Salada' to 'Sarada' because I got always hungry for salad when I wrote her name . Hope you don't mind... It's the official Katakana writing.) I wish I could now, but I will have to wait to introduce you to Mori Hotaru, the third team member. With him, you will find out about the last chunin-exams later on. Actually, it's kind of hard to write the two of them. They are typical teenagers in a world where you can throw blue glowing balls...  
_

_Thank you for reading this! I hope you liked the second chapter as much as the first one, the third one is already in the making! And will be out next thursday. If you cannot wait that long: Please check out my other story, "Our Dream". It's about young Madara Uchiha, his friends and family before the founding of Konoha. _

_I hoped you liked it! Please, leave a comment and/or review for me. I want to always get better and I need your help for that. (Also, I am really curious about what you think... XD)  
_

_Thank you very much!_

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. How do you like Ako-sensei? ;9  
_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

**__Janshal, __superbass99_, caribbianbeauty17, Guest Key, RandomPersonwhol and Guest Nr. 2: _**

_Thank you for your encouraging words and support! I will go on and give my best! _

_**Seeker of Paradise: **In my happiines I already wrote you an PM but I think I should still give you an answer here: Thank you very much! I don't really like it when characters are too out of character, so I try to stay with the original design. And if there will be Sarada and Bolt? I do not know yet. Maybe if it plays out like that? _

_**dragonball256**: She probably does. But what 14-year-old would ever admit it?_

_**Hanmac**: Good idea! That would be a kick in Sasukes balls I think... a very very hard kick..._

_**HerosReprise**: Hey there Karin ;) Thank you :3 I am most honored :D You are right with the name. The 'L' version, just doesn't sound right . You will find out more about Sasuke and Sarada in the next chapters. Why he treats her like that and why she is like that... I don't want to steal all the fun yet and spoil it ;) Thank you :D_

_**Pedney Weasley**: Thanks for the review! I like doing characters with depth. You can always have flat characters, but people will forget them quickly. So I decided to give Sarada and Bolt both some new personality traits :D_

_**sasukebiggestfan**: Here you go ;) Thank you_


	3. Chapter 03: Dinner for five

Chapter 3: Dinner for five

It was cloudy afternoon, four days after Sasuke had arrived back at the village. The leaves started to turn red already. A cold wind blew and mothers told their children at least three times a day to wear a hat.

The training fields were still wet from the previous day's rain and fallen leaves covered the round. A small river runs through the place. Usually it held lots of water, but it had been a quite dry summer.

But the trainees using the place were not bothered at all. They enjoyed it. It was a lot more difficult to train with the ground all slippery after all.

"So… you showed him around and did you talk?" A boy dodged some throwing knifes. He was taller than his practicing partner, had a low blonde ponytail and grey eyes.

"Yeah, kind of," Sarada avoided a swing of Inojin's sword and tried to bring him down with herself. He just smiled and jumped over her leg.

The two of them had been friends since their days as kids. Sakura and Ino, Inojin's mother, had been friends since their kindergarten days. They still met a lot and so did Sarada and Inojin.

She had been kind of sad, that they hadn't been placed in the same team after their graduation. Inojin Yamanaka was now working together with Shikadai Nara and Chocho Akimichi. Their parents had asked the Hokage to place them in the same team, like it had always been. The three clans had always stuck together and developed a very good team work including a lot of different techniques, which required one member of each clan to use.

Nonetheless, Inojin and Sarada were very good friends and while his mother always wanted him to train with Chocho and Shikadai, his father would always help to find a training spot for Inojin and Sarada only. He was probably kind of hoping for his son, to pick up his own techniques with brush and ink.

Sarada jumped into the air and avoided a strike Inojin blew at her. He had mastered his two short swords already perfectly. Also, he loved to make Sarada jump to just catch her of guard a second later. But not this time.

With a smirk, the girl grabbed his arm and pushed it away.

"Did you think that would work on me again?"

"It worked on you until now… Forgive me for assuming you wouldn't be able to block," he gave her an eye closing smile. Inojin had many similarities with his father, "what are you going to do about him now?"

"About who?" Sarada tried to ignore the obvious and went straight to punch Inojin in the face. He dodged.

"Your father… I mean… How are things between the two of you now?"

"Oh shut it…"

They went on with their training. Dodging each other's attacks, commenting each other with sentences like "you are slacking off" or "is that all you got?"

Inojin needed a break. They landed under a close tree. It had started to slightly rain.

"Actually, thank you Sarada," he pulled out a dry towel from his bag and started drying of himself. She looked at him confused.

"Why do you thank me?"

"Well, you know… Mum would have never showed me the techniques from that book you found," he threw the towel at her. Sarada dodged it.

"Hey! I don't want your stinking towel!" Suddenly she had a fist full of leaves in her face.

"That's what you get for not taking my kindness!"

"You idiot!" They started laughing and throwing leaves at each other. There wouldn't be much training anymore after the 'leave battle'.

* * *

The two stories flat Sakura lived in was nice. It included the huge first floor and a small attic.

The first floor consisted of one big room which served as the living room. If you turned left at the entrance door (after climbing the concrete staircase), you could see out of a huge window front onto an all flower balcony. The whole floor was covered in a wine red carpet. On the wall were some book shelves and in the middle was a classic kotatsu, surrounded by cushions and the couch. On the right, in the further corner, was the kitchen part with a six person dinner table. If you went right next of the kitchen, there was a small corridor with four doors: one leading to a toilet, another to a big bathroom and the third to Sakuras bedroom. She had a wall closet and a queen sized bed. If her "significant other was around, they would share the bed and the closet. Sasuke usually had some clothes stored there, but he didn't need them mostly. (If Sakura would get lonely or sad, she would steal one of his old shirts, pull it over his cushion and cuddle with it, to fall asleep.) The last door was the storage (food, weapons, medicine, cleaning equipment…)

On the right to the corridor, was another staircase (wooden). It lead up to the attic, where Sasukes study, another bathroom and Saradas room were. While the study was simply a room with lots of bookshelves filled with scrolls, a huge wooden table and world maps was, was Saradas room special.

She had exactly one window on the top corner, right under the roof, but enough sunlight got in. There was an old wardrobe with mirrors on the outside, a writing desk, bed in the corner and the bedside table with Saradas alarm clock. She had some family pictures at the wall around the window and posters of her favorite weapons (and how to use them).

Sakura looked around in her daughter's room. It was clean as always; Sarada hated disorder. The mother placed some stuff onto the child's table, smiled and carefully closed the door. A look into the study would show her exactly the same: almost scary cleanness. Like father, like daughter… wasn't it?

She made her way back down the staircase. The first thing Sakura saw, was Sasuke: he sat on the couch, his head over a huge map, with scrolls all around him. He had laid his feet under the kotatsu. Outside, a harsh wind had blown all day and now it started raining. It was only 6°C ouside (42.8°F), which was not really cold, but the temperature had dropped rapidly within the last few days and it at least felt cold.

"Here," Sakura carefully put a blanket around Sasukes shoulders. He flashed a quick smile and went back to planning his next mission. Sakura sat next to him.

"You really are going to the country of flames, aren't you?" She pulled a scroll closer and skimmed over it. He watched her and already put some scrolls away. "You don't want me to know…"

"Don't be silly. I cannot give you more information than I have given Naruto."

"True… but why are you even going there? I mean," she looked at Sasuke. She needed some answers. When he had told her two days ago, that he would be gone for maybe a year, she was devastated. Usually he would drop by every five or six weeks, even if it was only for a night. Sarada only ever met him when he stayed longer than the night, which was maybe every ten months. Those nights were usually reserved for meetings between Sasuke and the city's leaders, especially Naruto. Sasuke had started controlling and observing almost the whole continents criminal underworld. Together with Orochimaru (whose network was one of the best), the last scattered anbu ne members and some genjutsu controlled mafia bosses he had taken all information threats into his hands, without the criminals themselves noticing it.

Sasuke Uchiha had taken on the responsibility of reporting back all possible threats to the allied ninja forces and the country alliance they had carefully built up over the last two decades. Sakura was sure, in most of the cases he would not even report back to Naruto or anybody, because it was easier to just deal with it intern, instead of making the whole government decide over trivial matters (a drug deal maybe or forbidden experiments). But in case of bigger movements (mafia wars, organized terrorist attacks…) he would always inform the hokage straight away. He was reliable and that was why everybody trusted him. At first they had been suspicious, but over the years Sasuke had shown them, how he could be of use for them.

However, he still wasn't welcome at Konoha. His presence there would expose him as government loyal to the criminals and there were still a lot of people who wanted to punish him for his role before and while the last war. But Naruto trusted him and he would never let anybody try to impression Sasuke.

Sasuke sighted at her question.

"I have information, that a threat could be rising in the south, which-"

"…which is why you have to go and check it out. I get that," Sakura nodded, "but why do you have to stay a year?"

"Two years would be better…" he looked down again in thought, back at Sakura and when he saw her shocked face, Sasuke backpedaled, "but I will of course try to get through with it as fast as possible." He carefully, not to anger her (Sakura had a short temper), laid his hand over hers. "I promise."

Sakura smiled.

"I know. I trust you… I'm just worried about Sarada…" she gave him the scroll back, "next week is the written test for the chunin exams and if she passes it, she will be on the way to Kirigakure in two weeks. I know she wants you to cheer for her."

"Did they change the rules? Written exam in Konoha and practical exam at Kirigakure?" Sasuke took the scroll from Sakura and put everything into one big box.

It had started to rain heavily outside. From afar, they could hear roaring thunder and lightning bolts lightened up the darkening sky.

"Will she be alright," there was actual concern in Sasukes voice.

"Don't worry about her. She is just like you: indestructible. And yeah, they have." She stood up and turned on the kitchen light while he put the box away in a corner.

"Each genin has to take the written exam at their home village, just to save travelling costs. The practical exam is held each year at a different village," she turned on the gas stove and put a heavy pot on it, half filled with water, "last year Konoha held the practical exam, this year it's Kirigakure. And the third part is held each time in the new arena at the fire countries capital."

Sasuke had started to close the curtains, "I was there once. It's huge."

"After we don't have any more wars, lots of weapon forgers and others lost their jobs," Sakura explained with a concentrated look on her face. She started chopping onions, "those people had to find new work and lots of them helped building the facility and got jobs there now…"

"What pays hm?"

"Exactly… mind helping me?" She smiled as he came closer, took the knife and put it away. "If you steal my knife, there won't be dinner you know…"

"Just a second," Sasuke carefully pushed her against the counter; she leaned back, trying to escape with a laugh already on her lips. But he caught them with ease in a kiss.

"Now, I can help you…"

* * *

Sarada was home just 30 minutes later. She was covered all in mud (she wasn't even able to see straight, since her glasses were sainted all over) and her mother ordered her to the bathroom right away.

"I don't know whose side of the family she got her affinity with dirt from," Sakura muttered and went back to chopping vegetables.

"I doubt it was mine." Sasuke bent down and got a bottle of beer from the fridge. He filled two glasses with the golden beverage and handed one to Sakura.

"A toast to our daughter?"

"A toast to getting her clean before she gets the flat dirty…" Sakura smiled and drank a bit. She wasn't good with alcohol and had to do the morning shift at the hospital the following day. Sasuke had gotten used to it. His work demanded him to be able to drink lots of alcohol without getting drunk. (As an example, mafia bosses loved to share more than one glass of wine with their guests and they never celebrated without champagne.)

When she was done with showering, Sarada dressed herself in her favorite ivory-colored dress. It had long sleeves and a round white-collar. She loved to wear it with a simple waist belt and a pair of warm tights. She sat on top of the stairs and listened to her parents talking for a moment, while putting on her slippers. It were moments like this, that she enjoyed the most; it felt like they were just a simple family. Her mother and father were talking about her, they talked about the weather (which got worse by the minute, by the way) and about her mothers work at the hospital.

When Sakura called her daughter for dinner, she finally decided to stop to eavesdrop and climb down the stairs.

"Sarada darling, would you mind to set the table," Sakura poured some seasoning into the big pot.

"Are we having oden?" The fourteen year old got a tablecloth from a drawer and draped it on the table. Sasuke placed three small bowls and chopsticks on top.

"Of course, I know you love it."

Sakura smiled bright and carried the big hot-pot over. Her daughter quickly placed a coaster in the middle of the table and Sakura put the pot on it, "thank you." She gave Sasuke a kiss on the cheek and took a ladle. "Who wants first?"

Sarada was about to say 'I want some egg', when the doorbell rang.

"Who is out in that storm?"

"Sarada, would you mind," Sasuke had just sat down and looked at his daughter.

"On the way."

She turned around and hopped over to the door, Sarada was in the best of moods since her father had returned home and nothing could drag it down. Well, maybe nothing except for her drenched blond teammate.

"What the hell are you doing here," Sarada had opened the door and greeted the blond rapscallion.

"Don't ask me…" he answered. Bolt didn't look any happier than she did. Suddenly a hand came out of nowhere and ruffled through Sarada's hair.

"Mind if we come in," a tall man with short blonde hair stood in the doorway behind Bolt. He smiled bright.

"No not at all! Please come in Hokage-sama!"

Sarada opened the door completely and let both of them in. The wind made it hard to close the door but Naruto helped her with his strong hands.

"Who is it Sarada..? Oh, Naruto! Are you alright?" Sakura had just poured some stew into Sasukes bowl. They were still in the entrance area, so she couldn't see them.

"Good evening Sakura-chan," the blonde dobe bent over, to face his friends without having to enter (Sakura would probably kill him for getting the carpet dirty), "would you guys mind if the two of us would join dinner?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"I don't mind," Sakura glanced at Sasuke, "just get in." Sarada went to the kitchen to get some more tableware.

"What happened," Sasuke asked and offered the Uzumaki boys seats.

"Oh you know," Naruto hung up his and his son's jackets, "my sister-in-law Hanabi is having her second child and Hinata is staying at her house, to help out with everything. Himawari came with her and since neither Bolt, nor I can cook," he smiled bright and patted his son on the head, "we decided to drop by your place and at least ask."

"Oh boy…" Sasuke shook his head, "you are hokage, Naruto. You should get used to cook your own meals…"

"But mums cooking is always delicious," Bolt had a look into the pot, "but this is looking good too!" They sat down and Sakura handed them filled bowls.

"I hope it doesn't only look good. Dig in," she smiled.

Sarada brought another glass of beer for Naruto and two glasses with ramune for herself and Bolt. "Thanks," he mumbled. Sarada grinned.

The adults clinked their glasses and everybody started eating.

It was a very funny group: Naruto and Sakura would tell Sasuke stories that happened while he had been gone and he would casually ask them about it. Bolt tried to impress everyone with his special eating abilities (throwing gyoza into the air and catching it with his mouth) and Sarada showed how skilled she was with the chopsticks (she would pick the gyoza quickly out of the air, before he was able to catch it). In the end, Sakura send the two troublemakers upstairs to Saradas room and the adults had some alone time.

Sasuke and Naruto cleaned the dishes, while Sakura went to the storage to get some more beer. She put down the glasses on the kotatsu and was soon joined by the boys.

Sasuke broke the silence some minutes later: "Would you mind explaining me what happened at the last chunin exams?"

End of Chapter 3

* * *

**_Hello my fellow readers!_**

_I wanted to thank you for reading until here! It was quite a long chapter and it gave me trouble getting started writing it: I knew what I wanted to write, but not how exactly... I lacked inpiration. But thank god, I did it ;)  
_

_I wanted to introduce some more of the "New Generation" characters this chapter, but only Inojin made it to the final version of the chapter. He is a kind boy who is a lot like his father (calm, kind) but you will later see, that he can be just as fierce and cunning like his mother.  
Also, I wanted to give you some more SasuSaku... I have always been a shipper and I love writing them together... Sakura, who had developed from a hyper fangirl to a grown up woman and Sasuke, who had finally opened up to give himself a chance, to enjoy life. They have a nice dynamic.  
AND I wanted to give you the whole group together again. But you will see more of them next time!_

_In general, I think its a warm and cozzy family chapter... I listened to_ Linked Horizon_'s "_もしこの壁の中が一軒の家だとしたら_" ("Moshi Kono Kabe No Naka Ga Ikken No Ie Datoshitara") while writing the chapter... it's such a sweet and heart warming song. I think you would like it._

_I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know how you liked it by PM or review! Stay tuned for next week and this Sundays new chapter "_Our Dream_"!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review answers:_**

_Special thanks to **dragonball256**, **Darth Lelouch**, **sasukekarin0801** and** Guest Nr. 1**! I will give my best for you!  
_

_**VampiricBloOdyRose**: If you mean the LittleKuriboh version: Yes, I watch it! But that 'somehow' was more a... he is thinking 'somehow', rathern than his emo voice boy one :D Awesome to meet another person who knows about the series!_

_**HerosReprise**: And here we go again!__ Thank you for the review :3 Well, you are right... Sarada is a teenager, no doubt about it. But she is also a ninja and the daughter of two of the three great san-nin and... Life is complicated! And oh yes, if Sasuke was around more often, I guess he would be a good houseman. But I doubt that he would want that.. Naruto and Sasuke will always stay sweet together. And I think I fixed most of the typos! Thanks!  
_

_**Sasukebiggestfan**:Thank you for the awesome review... I will go on and give my best to give you a wonderful story, that you will love till the end!  
_

_**superbass99**: Thanks for the help :3 I always want to get better, not only by storytelling, but if the chapter has no... 'soul', its no fun reading it :D_

_**MuffinMan9223**: You are right :) Sasuke is like Narutos personal undercover agent, just the way Jiraya had been for Tsunade. But he visits less brothels... ;)_

_**Deguchi:** I serve you a new chapter with lots of SasuSaku! Hope you enjoyed it :D  
_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: The third teammate is called "Mori Hotaru", Hotaru in short. He is not around, but why? Well - wait for it..._


	4. Chapter 04: It's the little things

Chapter 4: It's the little things  


"Man, I haven't been in here in ages." Bolt looked around in Saradas room, "you put down the band posters," he notified her.

"Yeah? Did I? What do you care," she pushed up her eyebrows, making them disappear under her black bangs. He just shook his head.

"Can't we talk like normal humans for just a second please?"

She relaxed, "we can. If you know, how to behave yourself. I am not one of your… conquests. And I am in no need of rescue. So tell me, what is there left to talk about?"

"I wanted to say thank you," he took a book from the desk and looked at it.

"Thank me for what again? What did I do, that I deserve thanks?" Sarada let herself fall onto the bed. She didn't want to talk to Bolt. It had never been the same since Hotaru had to leave them. And she blamed him for it. But furthermost, she blamed herself.

"For keeping your mouth shut," he said bluntly. She sat up, "what do you mean?"

"You know… If you had told my father or practically anybody that I can already use THAT technique, without him teaching me, can you imagine how much trouble I would have been in? Really," Bolt slumped down on the desk chair, "and how much trouble Konohamaru-Sensei would have been in…"

"But, your dad never had time to teach you anyways… Why should he been angry?"

Sarada rolled around on her bed and sat up on the edge. She focused on Bolt, who let his eyes strife through the room. The alarm clock, ticking on the nightstand, finally caught his eye.

"I know… but he wanted to teach me himself and-"

"He didn't even try till today, did he?"

"No… he doesn't have much time for me…"

"See?"

There it was. That old, familiar trust they had shared until one year ago. The two kids looked each other in the eye, across the room. Neither dared to break the contact.

"Thank you."

Bolt was puzzled, "and why exactly do you thank me?"

"Father forbid it."

"You mean…"

"Yeah… not that there would have been any consequences ever… but he wanted me to never awaken it." Sarada fell to the side, still on her bed, still looking Bolt in the eye.

"Did you ever ask why?"

"No…"

They fell silent again. There was so much they needed to talk about. Stuff, they had tried to forget for almost a year. But it was so much more comfortable to just keep up the silence. Not hurting each other with childish words, not competing, not worrying…

Suddenly, Sarada sat up.

"We need to pull ourselves together! Do you know what I mean?!" She had a fiery look on her face. Like, she wanted to take on the whole universe.

"What do you mean," Bolt was puzzled. Probably more, than he would admit.

"Next week: Chunin exams? We need to ace that! And we need to be prepared to meet our new team member."

"New what?!"

"Are you stupid?"

"Hey!"

"Three members each team? Remember?"

"Oh yeah…" Bolt pouted. He didn't like the idea.

Sarada would have almost thrown a cushion at him. How could he be that retarded? No offence, but did he really forget about that?

Bolt didn't look pleased either. He didn't like being yelled at by Sarada, but was old enough to not start yelling himself. Sarada didn't mean it like that. And Bolt knew it.

"You never change, do you," she shook her head.

* * *

Downstairs, Naruto and Sakura looked at each other. Neither knew what to say exactly. They exchanged concerned views and the hokage drank half of his beer with one gulp.

"You know... Sasuke... It's not that easy. We don't really know what happened…" Sakura tried.

"Oh come on," Naruto looked at her, "let's just admit that we have no clue on what actually happened back then."

"Yeah… Maybe we really should be honest... Sasuke," she looked at her partner, "no one knows what happened. All we have are some separate clues but no actual... knowledge."

Sasuke sighted, "so you are telling me, that our children have a trauma but nobody has a clue or ever tried to find out why?"

"Kind of…" Sakura had that guilty look on her face, the boys just knew too well.

"Just tell me what you know."

Gently, Sasuke took Sakuras hand into his, to comfort her somewhat. Naruto had to smile. Ever since their last battle he had lost his crush on Sakura. And ever since he had done everything in his power to support her in getting Sasuke. Just seeing them together, made Naruto grin like an idiot.

"Well," he began, "we know, that Bolt and Sarada fucked up at some point. Correct me if I'm wrong, please," Naruto looked at Sakura and she nodded. "Their teammate Hotaru probably got poisoned on the very first day of the second exam. They couldn't help it, but didn't want to quit. So… they went on."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"The poison was never meant to kill," Sakura said quickly, "it was meant to slow them down and Sarada was somehow able to even lessen its effect. But she didn't know how to counter it concretely. Which is probably why she and Bolt blame her: She wasn't able to help him properly." Sakura slowly nodded and looked over the room. She suddenly seemed to be somewhere else, lost in her thoughts probably. Naruto picked up again.

"They made it till the last day. And they almost reached the goal in time, but they were attacked –and don't ask me how and what or why- but Hotaru got hit pretty badly by a forest bugs acid attack… You cannot imagine how horrible he looked. I was there when they brought him to the hospital: Most of his skin had been peeled off, where it was missing, he was pitch black… It's a wonder he survived…" Naruto shuddered at the memory. He was used to a lot, he fought in the fourth ninja world war and he had seen a lot of grave injuries. But nothing like what had happened to Hotaru…

"He is a strong boy," Sakura shook her head and focused on her husband, "I took him under my personal surveillance and he had been my only patient since he got to the hospital. I put him into an artificial coma, to be able to regenerate his skin and damaged organs properly but…" again she stopped and looked up to Naruto for support.

"…but he hasn't woken up yet and there is little hope, that he ever will," Naruto ruffled himself through the short blonde hair, "I will have to assign a new member to the team and gods help me… there are not many who could take on those two hot heads… They are worse than we ever were!"

"Oh stop Naruto. They are not worse than the two of you! They never really meant to harm each other."

"They harm each other with words every day, Sakura. And harm done by bad words a friend spoke," Naruto looked at her seriously, "those inflict the greatest wounds. You might not be able to see it, but both of them have been hurting each other gravely."

"You left them alone too long…" Sasuke let go of Sakuras hand and leaned back. He started to think about it all, about his daughter, Narutos son, the third team member… Hotaru. "What was he like?"

Naruto reached for his pocket and pulled out a picture. He handed it his friend.

"That's their team picture. I like to keep it with me cause it's the most current pic I have of my son," he smiled and pointed on the picture in Sasukes hands, "the woman on the back left is their teacher: Kajihara Ako. She is hotblooded, strong and very capable. She is friends with Hanare you know," Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Who is Hanare?"

"Hatake Hanare? You don't know..? Aaaah never mind," the blonde dobe got back to the picture. "Well on the right, of course: your daughter Sarada, my son in front of Ako and in the middle, that's Hotaru."

There, in between Bolt and Sarada, stood a young boy, a little taller than the other two, but still not as tall as their teacher. He had dark chocolate colored locks and cocoa skin. He wore a sleeveless, bolstered black shirt, a long gold necklace and an earring on his right earlobe. He smiled, but the smile wasn't what attracted Sasukes attention. It was the eyes: dark green orbs with long, girlish eyelashes. They looked gentle, determined and fierce the same time.

"He is not from around here," the Uchiha stated. Sakura smiled, "he was an orphan. Somebody found him in front of the hospital one morning. He was still an infant and got soon adopted by a lovely couple. They raised him to be a ninja and he grew up as a member of the village, like everybody else."

"I picked him for the team, because he was the calmest graduate we had. If we believe Ako, Hotaru was the one who kept our kids from getting at each other for stupid things. They are so much like us, when we were their age and Hotaru spoke sense to them." Naruto sipped from his beer. He saw the questioning look in Sasukes eyes and tried to soothe it, "but he is not only calm. He' is as much of a capable fighter as our kids are and I think, he always wants to protect them. Bolt spoke of him as his most loyal friend."

Sasuke thought again. The boy didn't sound too bad.

"I hope he wakes up soon."

"So do we…" Sakura sighted and got up, "let's see what the morning brings… Do you want some more-"she stopped in the middle of the sentence and listened.

"What is it?"

"I hear nothing," Naruto stood up and looked confused.

"Exactly. Nothing. That's NOT normal," she turned on her heels and wanted to run upstairs, but the two men were faster than Sakura.

* * *

"Oh come on!" Bolt had that stubborn face on, which made him, look like his father so much, "I am awesome! Just admit it Sarada!"

"Over my dead body! Next thing you do with that self-confidence is try to pick up girls again," she crossed her arms and readjusted her glasses, "grow up."

"Aaah come on don't be boring," he winked at her, "let's get those exams over, ok?" He held out his hand for her. Sarada took it reluctantly.

"To success..?"

She had just taken his hand when the room door blasted open.

"What are you two doing?! Bolt!"

"Get away from her!"

The kids looked stunned at their fathers who were fighting over who would enter the room first and both looked like they were about to throw something at one another.

Sarada jumped back and away from Bolt, but a little too far: she hit the bed and fell straight on it. Bolt didn't see her reaction coming and simply fell backwards, hit his head on the desks edge and kicked over the chair.

He groaned in pain and rubbed his head, "jeeez dad what the heck are you up to…"

Naruto was finally able to push through and enter the room. He hunkered down next to his son and looked at him suspiciously.

"Tell me what YOU are up to, young man," he asked doubtfully.

"Nothing! Truly…"

"And I am supposed to believe that..? You are my son afterall…" the Hokage laid a finger on his chin and blushed, "if you had any idea how many times I tried to spy on aunt Sakura in the-"

He couldn't finish his sentence. Sasuke had thrown one of Saradas books at his head to shut him up. The Uchiha helped his daughter stand up and checked if she was hurt. Sarada silently sighted at this.

"I'm alright Sasuke… You can let go of me, he didn't touch me or anything..." She looked more than annoyed.

"Don't ever even think about it."

"Yeah yeah I got it…" she adjusted her glasses. Sarada was back to her usual self within the blink of an eye, "as if I would ever want him to touch me."

"Yeah Haruno, keep pretending," Bolt got up in one swing. His attitude was back too, "we both know that you want me just as much as the other girls. Hey I got news for you," he grinned at her, "we might be stuck together at the practical exams for some time. Just you, me… look forward already huh?"

Sarada was about to punch him.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks. The two men didn't know whether to laugh or to step in. They decided to go with the latter option. The second before the kids were able to jump at each other's throats; the adults picked them up and held them close.

"This is so familiar," Sasuke grunted, holding Sarada in a tight grip around her waist.

Naruto just shook his head and tossed his son through the door, "yeah…same here…"

He followed his son and Sasuke let Sarada go. Together they walked went for the stairs. Sasuke followed quietly. But not without patting his daughter on the head.

"Oh man…" Sarada sighted. She was no little baby anymore!

Her arms crossed, she stood in the middle of her room. She heard them laughing and shook her head.

"You are one awesome dad," Naruto laughed, climing down the stairs.

"hm…" Sarada could imagine her fathers face being like 'shut the fuck up'. She giggled.

"I really don't like the idea of you leaving in three days… Can't you stay for a little while longer? It's gonna be a year after all."

"Naruto!"

Sasuke turned on his heels and ran up the stairs again, followed directly by Sakura. Naruto was just confused, "what did I do?"

They reached Sarada's room.

She just stood there, frozen in her movements, in the middle of her room. Sakura saw that Sasuke wanted to go in, but she put a hand on his shoulder and approached the girl first.

"Sarada… hey… are you…ok?"

The girl didn't react at first. Only when Sakura tried to touch her, she jerked away.

"Yeah… I am totally fine…" Sarada still had that look on her face when she turned to her father. "The Uchiha is finally leaving again and he won't be here or another year… Good to know that I don't have to endure his presence any longer…"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He just stormed away, down the stairs, through the living room. He threw the door shut after himself. He had seen her eyes just for a moment. Those distrusting, hurt eyes.

Had he stayed just a second longer, he would have seen how Sarada started to cry and Sakura took her in her arms.

* * *

Naruto pulled Bolt home quickly. He felt guilty for dropping the bomb. But really, Sasuke had it already planned when he had arrived at Konoha! Why didn't he tell her?

And Bolt? Bolt didn't know what to say eighter. He followed his father in silence and when they reached home, he just hugged him good night and disappeared into his room.

End of Chapter 4

* * *

**_My dearest readers,_**

_I am truly sorry that I kept you all waiting so long! It was never my intention, but first I soaked my PC and had to get a new one and afterwards my internet broke down. I now have a spare PC and my internet is back, but I couldn't even really notify you... I am so sorry! To appologize, I am preparing a christmas/new years special for you. _

_But back to the chapter! _

_I had a hard time writing it, because I wanted to give you some information about the last chunin exams but I didn't want to give it all away. I hope I didn't and nope: I won't tell you what exactly happened :D Also, I wanted some Team 7. You know, like in the good old times. And I wanted to show, that the two kids don't always try to mock each other. Most of the time - yes. But even though they are kids, they still have their moments of clearance XD_

_It doesn't have a theme song like the last one, but right now I am totally into "Immortals" from Fallout Boy. You know, the one from the new Disney movie? It won't be out till January in Germany, but I already got the song :D_

_I hoped you enjoyed it and please tell me if you liked it or not via PM or review! I appreciate all of your feedback!_

_I am really sorry for keeping you waiting..._

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review answers:_**

_Special thanks to **superbass99**, **Deguchi **and **Hyga Nicky** for your reviews!  
_

_**Otakugal**: Hey there! Don't be shy with the questions, it's my choice to leave you in the dark or lift the mist for you ;) here are some answers for you :D Yes, Sarada is taking her second exam. The first time was together with Bolt and Hotaru, they were all around 13 years old. I don't know if she has the sharingan yet... Go ask her :D All I know, is what is written on the documents in the hokages office... better not let him catch me sneaking around there again . Thanks for the review and for reading!  
_

_**Sasukebiggestfan**: No big! I am the one happy to get revies :3 hmmm a little sibling for Sarada? Not a bad idea. I can imagine everybody like 'holly - Sakura is pregnant again?' And Sarada reading all day, being like 'I'll be the very best big sis there ever was!' :D  
_

_**Soul Raider 116**: Thanks for the review :D Yeah you are probably right... But you have only seen him with Sarada XD Wait until you meet him in combination with the rest of the group hihihihi  
_


	5. Chapter 05: The new Member

Chapter 5: The new member

Sakura talked to her daughter. Tried to reason with her, to explain why Sasuke had to leave again, why they didn't tell her. But it was hard. She couldn't tell her daughter "we were afraid of your reaction", could she?

"He loves you so much, dear…" Sakura sat herself and Sarada onto the bed and brushed her daughter's hair out of her face, "he didn't want to hurt you by telling you he was leaving again so soon."

"Yeah... perfect…" Sarada pushed her mother away and stood up. She didn't want that… the 'perfect mom' thing her mother always did. "I don't want him to stay. He shouldn't have come back in the first place. I would have been happier that way."

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Sakura didn't like the way her daughter was talking. Yes, she hadn't had the best relationship with Sasuke, but Sakura knew, he was doing everything he could to be with his daughter and she also knew, that Sarada loved him so much, that she tried not to let him know – just in case he had to leave again. And now he had left her alone once more.

"He loves you and you know that it's not his choice to go-"

"-nobody forces him to go! He goes because he feels like it," Sarada cut in, "I am not stupid mum! I know exactly why he always goes."

"And why is that? Enlighten me."

Sarada turned around and faced her mother, "he would die for the village. I don't know why, but he cares and loves these people so much, he goes out on dangerous missions for them, while they are talking behind his back. And oh I have heard them! You know, what they call me? 'The traitors daughter' or 'blood of the devil'… not that I care," she took a deep breath and went on with her rant, "but why does he love those people who are always mean and stupid to us so much more than you and me?!"

Sakura was puzzled. Of course, she had known about those names and yes, there were a lot of people who thought it was no good to have Sasuke, who had betrayed them once, and his family in the village. Naruto had intercepted years ago and Sakura was sure, the people had stopped talking like that.

"That's not true, Sarada. Your father-"

"Don't call him that!" The girls head was flushed red, "I refuse to accept a man who is never around as my father!"

That was too much. Sakura was up in a fluid motion and slapped her daughter with her flat hand on the cheek.

Sarada was silent and looked at her mother; horrified. The pinkette tried to calm down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you," she closed her eyes, "you just proved, that you are still far too young to understand anything concerning the reasons your father is the person he is. We were thinking of telling you tomorrow but you still need time… Please go to bed now and think about what you just said. I am expecting you to apologize tomorrow to your father," Sakura headed to the door. "Good night." And shut it.

Sarada could hear her walk down the stairs into the living room. Slowly the girl walked over to her desk and picked up a small mirror. Her face was still red, but not anymore from the anger, but the hurt and sadness. The cheek her mother had hit was a little swollen and hot to touch. Just then, she couldn't hold it anymore.

The girl started sobbing uncontrollable. She stumbled over to her bed, fell down on it and snuggled her old plush elephant close. Sarada couldn't stop the tears; she didn't even try and eventually fell asleep later on.

* * *

Sakura was exhausted. The family evening had ended in a disaster: Her husband had run off into the night, her daughter was crying herself to sleep and she had just stood there awkwardly, the second she could have still saved the situation. It wasn't Narutos fault; that was for sure, rather hers and Sasukes. They really should have told Sarada. But how could they? The girl had been so happy, having her father back and everything.

"I'm so stupid…" the woman went to the kitchen counter and made herself a hot chocolate with lots of baileys (hazelnut schnapps). She drank it while waiting for Sasuke to come back home. He wouldn't have run off too far, Sakura knew him. He was probably just running around, disorientated until he had blown of steam. Afterwards, he would be back and Sakura would be waiting for him, to take him into her arms. He needed comfort more than any person she knew, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Sasuke came back an hour later. He was completely soaked from the rainstorm outside. He slipped out of his shoes, while Sakura went to get a towel for him.

They sat down and she helped him get dry. He looked at her for a second.

"You had a fight too." It was more of a statement, than a question.

"Kind of… I hit her."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," she smiled sadly and pulled Sasuke close, "come here… I'll stay with you…"

Sasuke let her be. He simply fell into her arms and Sakura pulled them around him. They stayed like this for some time.

"I love you…" he whispered after minutes.

"I know," she answered with a small smile on her lips.

* * *

The next morning, Sarada was awake before her parents. She knew she had to apologize to her father; otherwise her mother would knock her to tomorrow land with one single punch… And she admitted to herself, that her mother was probably right, somehow. But she would never tell her. Never.

Her father loved bonito onigiri, so Sarada cooked rice, got the bonito ready and formed some filled rice balls. She would have to leave before her parents were awake, so she sat it down on his place at the table; together with some tomato juice (he loved that too). Her mother got pancakes with syrup and fruits.

This was Saradas ways to say 'I'm sorry'. She had never been good with face to face apologies.

Just as expected, she was off earlier than her parents were awake and she met up with Bolt and her teacher Ako around eight at their usual place. The kids didn't talk much, but Ako was in high spirits: She had received a message with news.

"We are getting a new team member," she told her students with a huge grin on her face. She seemed to miss, that the kids were in no way happy. Both of them had hoped for Hotaru to get back on his feet, but he hadn't and now they had to work with a new, unknown team mate. Could it get worse?

Naruto was already in his office with Shikamaru, giving missions to shinobi groups and singing papers.

"Good morning," he called and looked up with a strained face, "sorry… Shikamaru called me at five today… I mean like… five! Come on… No one is awake at that time."

"Well I was and there was work to be done…" The Nara clan head stroked his goatee. He did that a lot when he was thinking.

Naruto straightened his back and smiled at his sons team, "I have some stuff for you guys but first, " he look at Sarada, "are you alright? I'm sorry; I gave you a lot of trouble yesterday."

"It's alright. Thank you for your concern," she answered and bowed slightly. She had addressed him very casual the day before, but in the office, uncle Naruto was still the hokage. Bolt peeked at Sarada, but she just ignored him.

"We picked a new teammate for you this morning," Shikamaru started to look through all the papers on the desk. The two kids looked at each other worried. Ako was happy, "finally! I mean, I love Hotaru but come on. If he plans on staying longer in bed, we really need to get a replacing member." She smiled bright.

"I like your enthusiasm," Naruto laughed and took the paper, Shikamaru had finally found, "and here you go… hmm your new member will be him! Please enter!"

"What?! You are telling me that he stood outside the whole time and all you needed to do was call him in?! Gosh! Dad you are hopeless," Bolt blurted out.

"Would you shut up," Sarada quickly head locked him but the boy didn't shut up.

"Stop that Sarada! You have to admit it's funny!"

"No it's freaking not!" She struggled to keep him down.

"Stop it you-"Bolt bit her in the arm, Sarada screamed.

"What the actual- What is this supposed to mean?!"

In the doorway, stood a young man. He was probably a couple of years older than Bolt and Sarada. He had long white hair in a ponytail; his eyebrows were just white dots over icy blue eyes, on snow colored skin. He wore a white west with the fire country's crest on the front and the back, over some layers of dark grey kimonos. Those were held together by a belt, fixed onto black hakama trouser.

He looked at the scenario distraught.

Well, it probably looked very funny : The hokage, Naruto, holding his belly and trying not to fall from his chair because of laughing; Shikamaru next to him, his face buried in his hands, exhausted from trying to get them all back in line; The teacher Ako, who was already punching the wall why laughing of her ass. And finally, in the middle of the three adults: Sarada and Bolt, wrestling with each other.

The first one to get her grip back was Ako. She separated the two teenagers, still giggling like a little girl. Shikamaru helped Naruto up. He had just really fallen from his chair.

"Sorry… I'm sorry…" the hokage tried to say. He took a deep breath and sat down again, "we humbly thank you for coming today. Kids, may I present you Maeda Shizumasa, your new teammember." Bolt looked back and forth between his father and the white haired man who had just entered. Something was off. He had never heard his father talk in such a polite way to anybody but his grandfather!

"He is the second son of our current daimyo and he will be on your team from now on." Well, there Bolt had his explanation. The son of the daimyo had to be addressed politely.

"Great! A stay-home boy wants to play ninja," Bolt laughed loud. Sarada took her head into her palms. The boy was so embarrassing…

"Don't underestimate me peasant," Shizumasa looked down on his new team members and back to the hokage, "I met them, wonderful. May I leave now?" He didn't sound like he was asking, more like notifying them.

"I think you should stay," Ako winked at him and held out a hand to greet him, "I am the team leader, Kajihara Ako. It's my pleasure." Shizumasa ignored her hand and she dropped it. "Well, have it your way. But now, we are going to work a little on our team spirit. If the lord hokage might give us a free day," she looked over at Naruto. He smiled back.

"Take all the time you need. But Bolt," Naruto smiled at his son, "be on time for dinner please."

"Yeah alright dad… bye bye!"

Sarada giggled.

* * *

"So let's introduce ourselves, shall we?" Ako looked at her group with an encouraging smile on her lips. They were finally alone back at their training camp. Behind them was small forest and the area seemed like a lumber camp

The kids sat around their teacher on logs. Bold had his head resting on his hands, seemingly bored. Sarada was cleaning her nails, watching the new guy from the corner of her eyes. And he? He sat there like a king on his throne…

Perhaps, the girl thought, his position has gotten to his head already.

"Well, let's start… I'll go first then," the teacher looked at them and since all of them looked somewhere else, she just went on. "My name is Kajihara Ako! I am 25, gemini and I freaking love pop tarts," she winked, "I got my jonin license three years ago and wanted to join the anbu but well… You guys are a lot more fun! But I hate stupid quarrels over stupid things… Now it's your turn! Who are you, what do you like… dislikes… Bolt, how about you?"

"Of course! The name is Uzumaki Bolt and yes, I am the son of the hokage but who cares! I am 14…" he put a finger on his chin, pondering what else to say, "oh yeah! My dad is awesome, everybody says that. But I don't care: I want to be awesome, but not his awesome… more like… my way awesome. Not the 'Ramen-style'-awesome, but my awesome! I just didn't find out what kind of awesome yet… awesome…" He looked like he was about to jump up and scream "I'm totally fucking awesome" into the world. He loved the phrase…

"Yeah we got it pretty boy," Sarada rolled her eyes, "may I?" Ako nodded and Bolt shut up. He pouted again.

"Well, I am Uchiha Sarada and also 14 years old. I'm Taurus, I like my mums' cooking and especially reading… hm… is there anything else you want to know," she looked over to the new guy. He didn't even look like he listened.

"It's your turn Shizumasa," Ako smiled at him. She was happy as always, but could already feel some tension in the air, "please introduce yourself to us."

The boy opened his eyes and looked at his team. He seemed bored.

"Why should I. You already know my name, status and I am sure you are going to treat me accordingly. What is the point of telling you anything else about me?"

"Well, we are going to be a team for quite some time so-"

"Bullshit," Bolt blurted out, "he won't stay longer than what it takes Hotaru to get on his feet again"

"Bolt!" Ako shot daggers with her eyes at the boy, "what did I tell you before? We are going to work together! Stop your bullcrap!"

"I think he is quite right," Shizumasa answered. He had a calm, but irritating voice, Sarada thought.

"I will only stay with this team until I have passed the chunin exam. Afterwards you two can do whatever you want. I don't care." He got up and turned around

"Where are you going?"

"See you tomorrow. At 8 I guess."

The team was stunned. Did the new guy really just get up and make his leave? Not with Bolt.

"Hey! Wait up piss head!" He got up, ran up to Shizumasa and grabbed the aristocrat by his shirt. He didn't look impressed. "You listen now! We are supposed to be a team and we are going to make it easy for you: want to pass those exams? Be a member of the team! Don't want to pass? Take your leave! We are fine even without you! And if you think that-"

A loud sound interrupted the blonde suddenly. He turned and started sweating quite rapidly.

Sarada had gotten up too. She looked totally calm, except for the huge trunk she held over her head with one hand, "well guys, you have exactly ONE option now: get back here and sit down. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what," Shizumasa scoffed, "are you going to poke me with your stick little girl?"

"No…" she smiled. It was a devilish smile. "I am going to use it as a hammer and hammer the both of you raw into the ground."

After that, there were no more problems. At least for the day.

Ako was quite amused by the way, the boys had submitted to Sarada and they started to train together for the rest of the day. They only had one week left until the written chunin exams and maybe about two weeks till the practical part. They all assumed that the written part wouldn't be a problem at all and decided to get ready for the second part in advance.

End of Chapter 5

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**_Here you go! Another update! _**

_I told you, this week will be punctual! ;) So, how did you like the chapter? I'm finally done with the prologue and introducing the most important characters. If the story was a ship, we had crossed slow moving water, but now we are heading towards some nice rapids! Next up are the chunin exams. _

_Just in advance: Yes, you will meet most of the new generation kids next chapter. You already know Inojin, but you will get to know Chocho, Shikadai and all of the rest too :D Maybe you will even meet some of the other adults. AND you will get to know Hatake Hanare :D With her I think I have four orignial characters... (Kajihara Ako, Maeda Shizumasa, Hatake Hanare, Mori Hotaru) I try to keep the OC count low. It's more fun to have mostly canon characters. Actually: Do you like Shizumasa? XD  
_

_Jumping back to the beginning of the chapter: Sakura is a good mother. But if her daughter has one of her moments, she cannot just sit by :/ But I am happy, that she is capable of slowing Sarada down. And Sarada really loves her parents. She would just never admit it XD_

_Well, see you next week with the christmas special! I don't know yet if I have the time to upload a chapter too, but I do hope so!_

_Please tell me how you liked the chapter and/or the story in general! Review or PM me and you will get an answer next week!_

_Take care, see you soon!_

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. On my profile, you find a link to my Twitter account! For recent updates, spoilers and news: Visit me there! :D_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_A huge thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I love you! Special thanks to **darkchocol8807** and **deguchi**! You are awesome! _

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: Thank you so much for the compliment! When I read your comments, I had just woken up and was like *.* You made my day :D Hmmm I don't know... if you would aks Hotaru's parents, they would probably tell you to go away, their son aint' no spy! But if he really is not? Good question.. We should set some Anbu on the topic... But no, he is in no where related to Kakuzu. I imagine Hotaru much more handsome than that old geezer XDD Thank you and please go on reading! :)_

_**DeGuddi**: Danke für die liebe Review! Ist schön mal ne Antwort in meiner Muttersprache geben zu können :D Ich danke dir für dein Lob! Ich gebe mir sehr viel Mühe mit der ganzen Story. Ich mag es nicht wenn die Charaktere zu sehr OOC sind. Das nervt mich bei vielen sonst sehr gut geschriebenen Geschichten... Wenn eine Figur Naruto heißt, dann darf die kein kleiner pessimistischer Junge sein ;) (Z.B.) Und jepp, ich glaube auch das Sarada und Inojin so etwas wie beste Freunde sind. Bolt ist ja mehr so eine Konkurenz Figur, aber Inojin ein echter Freund. :) Wie schon gesagt: Im nächsten Kapitel geht die Post ab! Bitte bleib weiter dran! :D Danke dir!  
_


	6. Christmas Special 2014

_This is the Christmas special for my dear readers of "Finding Papa". The special is set in the winter after chapter 700 of the manga._

_Since 'Naruto' is a Japanese story, I decided to go with the Japanese way of Christmas, which is mostly dates, but also work since they have no Christian roots._

_I wish you wonderful christmas and happy holidays! And since the next chapter won't be up till 2015, already Happy New Year!_

_Please enjoy :)_

* * *

**The 24th of December**

06:30 A.M. – Konoha City Hospital

It was around dawn. The sun was slowing crawling up a crystal clear heaven. No cloud was to be seen. Huge icicles shone in the light of the early day and freshly fallen snow glittered. All the trees had lost their leaves, except for the evergreens. Most running and standing waters were frozen over with a deep blue ice crust. The fish were sleeping beyond the ice and the Nara deer were walking around everywhere in town, since the waters, keeping them in their territory's, were frozen. On sunny afternoons, lots of kids were on the ice too. With weary parents watching them, they had skating races, played hockey and built snowmen. They built snowmen on the land too, but it was so much more fun if you could always slip and fall. It made the simple building a game of who could balance the best.

As fun as it was, the roads and sidewalks were all ice and the Konoha hospital had been flowing over with patients this night.

Sakura sighted. She was the doctor on duty this night. From dusk till dawn she had been treating patients: people who had slipped on the ice, teenagers who had drunk too much and slipped, two adults who had broken into the ice, a kid who had gotten an electric shock after trying to fix a Christmas light for his father… The list was endless. And Sakura hadn't gotten even five minutes of sleep.

She slowly rose from her chair in the doctor's office and started putting everything together. The next shift would arrive in 30 minutes and they surely wanted have everything in order, despite all the trouble at night. The day shift never cared about the all-nighters. They were just happy to not have been the ones working that shift.

The bureau was completely messed up and patients' health records were all over the floor. With slow movements she picked them up and piled them up. Afterwards she brought the coffee pot and cup back to the kitchen.

Sakura rubbed her eyes. She desperately wanted to sleep.

After the shift transfer (new patients, conditions, special events…), she put her street shoes back on, threw the white doctors coat into the laundry and headed to the door. It was already half past six; she wouldn't make it home in time to make breakfast for her daughter. Her cellphone battery was already low, but she could still make a call.

The dump ringing sound already got on her nerves, but she needed to wait for the phone to get picked up. Finally, after an eternity, somebody answered.

"…hello," a sleepy voice mumbled on the other end of the line.

"Mornig Ino, did I wake you? Sorry," Sakura made her way through the streets of downtown Konoha.

"No… no not at all… what is it?

The pinkette turned her head, left and right, to check for incoming traffic, before crossing the street, "I had the nightshift and I won't make it home in time to get my daughter ready for school. Would you mind if I send her over?"

"Oh, not at all," Ino seemed to slowly wake up, "I'd be happy to have her over and Inojin probably too…"

"Thank you very much! You are a darling."

"Oh come on," Ino smiled into the phone, "go and get some sleep billboard brow… Let's go eat lunch together?"

"I'm picking you up at one o'clock if you don't mind," Sakura replied, "see you later Ino-pig, I need to call my daughter…"

"Yeah… just send her over… breakfast is ready in half an hour…"

Sakura hung up and turned around a corner. She got herself some quick breakfast at the convenience store, while dialing her home number. The little girl was faster to pick up than Ino had been.

"Good morning Sarada! Have you been awake all night again?"

"Aaaah no… I went to bed at nine and woke up half an hour ago. I finished my book!"

"I know every time, you are lying dearie," Sakura smiled to herself, "the book has approximately 600 pages and you had just started yesterday when I left for work. I cannot leave you home alone anymore if you don't sleep."

"But I did! Not just as much…" Sakura could almost hear her daughter getting red.

"It's alright. We will talk later. I am late and won't make it in time. Would you mind going over to aunt Ino's place?"

"No it's ok! I'll be ready in short and go over."

Sakura smiled, "I'm sorry Sarada. I will see you after school. Don't forget to take your backpack with you!"

"I won't forget it mama! See you later! Love you!"

"Love you too!"Sakura hung up.

She shivered, it was cold and the streets were still frozen. The sun slowly rose over the horizon as she arrived at home. Sarada had started the heaters in the living room and Sakuras bedroom. All the rooms had been decorated with Christmas ornaments: They had garlanded the walls, fairy lights were all around the living room and kitchen. Mother and daughter hadn't bought a Christmas tree. They used the small indoor palm tree (even decorated it) and had already placed some small presents beneath.

Sakura smiled at that, threw of her clothes and crawled under the blanket of her bed. The alarm clock was set on 11:30, she would be able to take a shower before picking up Ino.

Afterwards, she fell asleep rather quickly.

* * *

08:00 A.M. – Near the Konoha Hot-Springs

The door had just closed and the cold air was still hanging in the house. A little girl, in blue jump suit pajamas in blue, peeked around the corner. Her big brother had just left for school and their mother accompanied him. They hadn't noticed that the little sister already had been awake and sneaking around the house. Her big brother was late again. Like most of the days.

With quick, silent steps, the girl ran into her room again. She put down her teddy bear and covered it with her blanket. It was almost as big as her. But only almost! Looking at the bear, made her smile and she quickly ran back into the living room. She looked at the staircase, took a deep breath and confidently, but carefully, climbed it.

Once upstairs, she looked back and congratulated herself on her own courage. The four year old turned around. There was a mirror right next to the door she wanted to enter. As she approached slowly, the mirror showed a small girl with short black hair, which went up on the ends, two thin whiskers like lines on each side of her face and clear blue eyes, which she had gotten from her father.

The door handle was a little bit high and she jumped carefully to get the door open. She had to try three times, until she finally caught the handle with her small hand and opened the door. It creaked loudly and the girl frowned. But when nothing happened, she quickly sneaked into the room.

On the right to the door, was a huge wardrobe. It covered the whole wall. The opposite was all windows, but these were still closed with curtains. Some light found its way through and shone above a huge double bed. That was her goal. The four year old sneaked closer and pulled herself up on the empty side of the bed.

On the other side, a tall figure slept. She crawled closer to the blonde man. He didn't wake up.

"Papa," she whispered, "Papa wake up." He didn't react, only snored and turned around, away from the girl.

She tried again, in a normal voice this time: "Papa, you need to wake up! It's Christmas!"

He didn't react again. She thought for a minute. Then, she climbed upon his sleeping figure and jumped up and down: "Papa! Get up! You promised we would have a Christmas party today! Papa! Wake up!"

He finally reacted to her. With a groan and one fluid motion, he captured his daughter and started tickling her.

"Stop it papa! Stop it," she giggled and rolled around, trying to avoid his fingers.

"Oh that's what you get for waking the hokage! Did no one tell you?"

"N-n-n-no hahahahahaha!" He tickled her sides.

"The punishment for waking the kage is being tickled to till surrender!" The girl rolled around and giggled.

"I sur-r-r-r-render," she laughed and he stopped.

Naruto fell back onto his cushion and looked at his daughter. She tried to catch her breath.

"Did you sleep well, Himawari?" He smiled and ruffled through her hair with his good hand. He loved his daughter. She looked a lot like Hinata and had most of her traits, but she had his eyes. And right now, those eyes shone with anticipation.

"Papa today is Christmas!"

Naruto laughed, "yeah I know 'tebayo. What do you want me to do?"

Himawari jumped up and down, "you need to get up! We need to set up tramps and," she came closer and whispered, "and catch Santa!" Her father had to laugh even harder and fell from the bed.

"Papa?" Himawai crawled to the edge of the bed and looked at her papa. He got up with a fluid motion and took his daughter in his arms.

"How about breakfast?"

"Pancakes?"

"Aaaah I'm not such a good cook… how about instant ramen," he made his way out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he sat his daughter on the counter.

"Ramen!" Himawari laughed and held up an empty bowl. Her dad smiled and took it.

He was about to pour boiling water over the prepared raw noodles, when the door opened and his wife entered. He quickly shoved the bowls behind his daughter.

"Good morning Naruto," Hinata smiled at him as she took of her shoes, "what are you doing with the hot water?"

"Aaaah I was about to make us some… uhm… some tea! Right Himawari," he looked at his daughter with a pleading face. She quickly nodded, "yes yes! He was about to!"

"But you forgot to prepare a pot," Hinata came over and took the water boiler out of his hands. "Let me, I'll prepare some breakfast for you."

"Hinata… you are the best!" Naruto gave her a kiss on the cheek. Hinata went red like in the old days, "Naruto… not in front of our daughter." But the little girl just giggled and almost fell from the counter. Though, before that could happen, her father was by her side.

"How about we sit at the table and wait for your mama to prepare breakfast? I'm hopeless at it," he sat the girl on his shoulders and jogged around in the kitchen.

"Papa hahahahaa," Himawari laughed and they left the kitchen behind.

* * *

Hinata came 15 minutes later with a tablet full of wonderful self made foods. Hinata asked him to go and get the tea for her, it hadn't fit on the tablet anymore and he gladly went.

"So, did you get our son savely to school?" Naruto took poured Hinata some tea. She cut the strawberry jam bread into small pieces. It was easier for Himawari to eat.

"I think so. But I still don't know why he is late usually… It took us 20 minutes to get to the academy," she said and handed her daughter the plastic plate.

"I wonder what he is doing on his way…"

"My brother always says," Himawari took a piece of the bread, "that he plays cardgames! But," she put a finger on her lips," psssssht! It's a secret." The girl happily ate her breakfast.

The adults looked at each other.

"I guess I will have to have a word with him…" Naruto sighted. His son was just as much trouble as he had been at the same age. He put down his cup after taking a sip and sat his daughter down on his lap, "Himawari… I have a very important question for you!" She looked at him with her huge blue eyes like 'I'm ready!'

"Papa is going to take mama out tonight for dinner, would you mind staying over at aunt Sauras place tonight with your brother?"

"Is sister Sarada there too?"

"Of course!" He smiled at his daughter and she just nodded, "you are an awesome daughter. Give me a high five!" They high fived.

Hinata looked at her husband, "but Naruto… You didn't tell me anything…"

"Well, that's what suprises are about right?"

And Hinata almost fainted like in the old days. She had definitely married the right man.

* * *

11:45 A.M.– Shinobi Academy Konoha

The windows were patterned with handmade paper snowflakes. Colored Christmas lights light up the room. Outside it was a beautiful day, but since it had been quite cold, the kids had decided to stay inside for their lunch break.

"Oh and you know what I am getting? I will have an awesome pearl bracelet! I am sooo sure of it…"

"Oh you are awesome!"

"And my mother is going to cook my favorite food and I will be in the middle of all the attention!"

A bunch of kids was curdled up in the middle of the classroom. It was break and they were swooning over a girl in their middle. She had orange-blonde hair and cocoa skin. She wasn't the skinniest person eighter, but the children loved it when she was bragging about how awesome she was.

"Maybe someone should get her down while its save. If she falls from heaven a little later, it might hurt quite a lot." Dark haired Sarada sat on her seat in the back of the class. She wore her usual attire (red skirt, white shirt, yellow slipover, bow tie and jacket) and ate the obento her aunt Ino had made. Next to her sat a young boy with dark blonde hair. He nodded at her words.

"Maybe… But I don't think she is too bad of a person…"

"I don't think so too Inojin, but I wouldn't want to work with her." Sarada put down her chopsticks, "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," he frowned. "Not your fault I'm probably stuck with her after graduation…"

"Who says that you will be? Maybe they will put us in one team," the girl smiled and took a bite from an eggroll, "did I ever tell you, that your mom's cooking is delicious?"

He was about to answer, but a frustrated scream made all conversations stop.

"How dare you! It wasn't my fault I wasn't there this morning!"

"Well," a dark haired boy leaned back in his seat and looked up to a anger steaming blonde, "you weren't there and therefore you are disqualified for today's matches."

"You can't do that Shikadai! I am the undefeated champion!"

"Maybe that's why it's good for us that you are not going to participate today," a boy with cocoa skin and dark chocolate locks. He was shuffling cards.

"And I thought you were on my side, Hotaru!"

"Sorry Bolt," Hotaru shrugged and looked at his friend with his deep green eyes. "You beat me in every game. I want to have a chance to battle the rest too."

"Aaaah man," Bolt fell down on his bum with and watched as Hotaru and Shikadai exchanged card decks, shuffled and returned the cards.

"Look how Uzumaki is sulking," Inojin giggled and Sarada smiled. The boy was just too cute.

"And tomorrow he will be the one who screams the loudest again," she replied.

* * *

01:30 P.M. – Coffee shop 'Moonbucks

Ino looked at Sakura, "you look wasted." What a wonderful comment to make on Christmas.

"Thank you," Sakura answered sarcastically and bit into her bagel, "I bet if you did a nightshift at the hospital, you'd look worse."

"Well, I know how to use make-up," Ino mocked in return, "why did you even take the job there? It's honorable but you loved going on missions and saving life's when it was really needed. There must be at least 50 people whom you rescued from immediate death and some hundreds more who would be disabled now, if it hadn't been for you." The blonde shook her head. She had never understood her friend's decision.

"Who am I?"

"Sakura Uchiha?"

"Exactly," Sakura avoided the bag of another customer by dodging and picked up her latte macchiato. "I am Sakura Uchiha, married to Sasuke Uchiha and I have a daughter called Sarada. Since my husband is almost always out somewhere in the wild, doing some errands for my best male friend, the hokage, I have to take care of my child alone. Most of the time."

"That's what I mean! You could be so much more chilled if you'd just be a stay at home mum like me. Ok I have the flower shop with my mum, but that doesn't really count, does it? If Naruto doesn't pay you enough money to make up for the time YOUR husband is away on HIS behalf, I'd go to that damn office right now and whip some hokage ass!" With the last words Ino moved like a ghetto chick.

"I would be damn bored if I stayed at home," Sakura simply replied. "And trust me: Naruto could never pay Sasuke as much money as I get for one simple night shift at the hospital," she winked, "by the way, thank you for helping me out today." Sakura looked at her friend. Ino smiled back.

"Nothing to thank for. Your daughter is one lovely girl and my boys love having her around so," Ino took Sakuras non-bagel-holding-hand into hers, "no need to thank me."

For some minutes, the women were just sitting there quietly. Sakura ate her bagel and Ino nipped on her gingerbread latte. She loved the sweet flavor.

"What time are you bringing Inojin over tonight? I thought about starting to cook around half past five," Sakura shook her cup to get all the foam from the cups sides.

Ino hesitated. "Are you really ok with us having a nice date night by loading our kids at your place? You told me that Naruto is keeping your kids at your place too…"

"Go and have your date night," the pinkette smiled, "I have nothing better to do and it's Christmas. Sasuke won't be back until New Year probably and even if he made it in time for Christmas, he would be in no mood to go on a romantic date with me."

"If you say so…" With a sad look, Ino emptied her cup.

* * *

03:00 P.M. – Keishi City (Capital)

Sasuke was on his way home. Thank god there was no snow this year, but his last job had taken much more time, than calculated. He was late. Very late.

He had taken part in the Genji clan's annual gathering. They didn't celebrate Christmas but new year: "Shougatsu". The clan was one of the richest clans in the whole fire country, since they controlled most of its soap and weapon trade. Sasuke didn't care for the soap trade they managed (he had given Shikamaru one or two tips and ever since the illegal soap trade had become quite unprofitable), he had his eyes on the weapon ex- and imports the clan conducted. They traded illegal and highly dangerous weapons. As Hokage, Kakashi had prohibited automatic and half automatic weapons, just as he banned biological weapons (example: genetically altered bugs – to Shinos dismay). The Genji clan made a fortune each year with their weapon trade and it was Sasukes job to undermine them and find evidence. But it was thougher than anybody could imagine. A single person within a wasp's nest. But Sasuke didn't mind, as long as his little family was alright. It was different than when he went astray earlier in his life: Back then, he hadn't had anything or anybody to protect, now he always took great care to not get his girl and daughter into trouble.

It was only one day left till Christmas. Sasuke cursed himself, the moment he realized he didn't have any presents for them. Maybe he could still make it. He was close the capital. All that was left to do, was taking the longer route.

And that was how Sasuke Uchiha ended up in front of a toy store in the middle of the fire countrys biggest city: The capital Keishi. Like in earlier times, samurai and Konoha police patrolled the streets and the city was therefore one of the safest around the world. Within the huge crowd nobody noticed the last Uchiha and his struggle. He had no freaking clue what his daughter would like…

"I should get home more often… a lot more often," he muttered to himself and shook his head.

"Trouble choosing? I had no idea the great Sasuke Uchiha likes toys," an irritating female voice scoffed. Sasuke turned around and faced a familiar red head with glasses. She wore a dark robe over a grey winter coat and looked at him with a devilish smile.

"Hey there Karin… Shouldn't you be home?"

"Home? What do you know about home," she came closer and whispered into his ear, "they may have pardoned you, but for me… there is no way out of this. Even though I never wronged anybody." She backed away a little and looked at her former love, "you look good. I thought, being a well behaved citizen would make you look lame and boring but… you actually look better than ever."

"…" he didn't answer and turned away.

"Wait, idiot. Do you want a present? Yes or no?"

Together they went inside the shop and got a small blue alarm clock with elephants on it. Sasuke had remembered, that he had watched the movie together with his daughter, when she was just a baby. Every time she had cried, he would take her out of the bedroom and walk through the living room, rocking her in his arms, making sure Sakura got her sleep, because she had to go to work the next day. Most of the time, Sarada was asleep after half an hour of him carrying her around, but sometimes it didn't help and he would sit down, Sarada in his lap and they would watch the movie with the little elephant trying to fly. They were fast asleep before the end and Sakura would watch them with a smile, was she awake at last.

Afterwards, Karin guided Sasuke into the dirty parts of the city and they sat down for a drink inn an old tavern.

"So… what have you been up to? Except," she smiled and took a sip from her honywine, "for buying childrens toys." He didn't answer and she just went on. She talked about what she had done after the war, how she was always running, trying to escape 'justice', searching for a home, and meeting people from back then… until Sasuke finally said something: "What do you want?"

"I want you to clean my name," she hissed, "because of you, I lost everything! I had a good life working for Orochimaru and because of you, I lost my position. I am a criminal right now and I want you to make up for what you did to me!"

She seemed to have completely lost her crush on him. In front of Sasuke sat an angry young woman with no future perspectives. But he couldn't help her.

"I cannot do anything for you. You have to get out of it yourself. Like I did. Though…" he looked her in the eyes, "my friends helped me."

"I don't have a friends anymore," Karin hissed and stood up, "thanks for the talk. Have fun on your kid's birthday party." She turned and left the tavern. Sasuke looked after her. Something was odd but he couldn't tell what it was. He paid instead of wondering.

He had to hurry home. He maybe had a present for his daughter and nothing for Sakura, but he had a quite good idea what she would like.

* * *

05:30 P.M. – Hokages residence

_"…__do you recognize me? Well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me. 'Happy Christmas' I wrapped it up and sent it. With a note saying 'I love you', I meant it. Now I know what a fool I've been. But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again_." The radio was playing the old time classic 'Last Chrismas'. The bathroom door was locked, the radio on full blast and a girl stood in front of her mirror, half naked with her make-up on and her hair twisted in a perfect bun on her head. She took a brush and fell in with the chorus: "_Last Christmas I gave you my heart! But the very next day you gave it away! This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special!"_

There was a loud knock on the door, "Hanare! Are you done yet?!" She stopped singing for only a second, "I could ask you the same! _This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special!"_ She grabbed her short dress and threw it over her body. She draped it nicely over her tights, checking herself in the mirror.

"Are you done yet?! Please…"

She opened the bathroom door and looked left. There sat her father, with his favorite book, in his best clothes.

"Yes, I am done," she presented herself to him.

"You look very nice," he said and stood up.

"Shall we get going? I'll just get my bag!"

Hanare turned around over and over while singing the last verses of the song, "_A man under cover but you tore him apart! Maybe next year I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone special!"_

The former hokage smiled. He pushed the button and the radio stopped screaming Christmas songs into the world.

Naruto had become hokage around a year ago, but he still refused to move into the official hokage residence, close to the office tower. He had said: "I love to live with my kids and Hinata at the house her father gave us. At the residence, there wouldn't be enough space for Bolt and Himawari to play. So you may keep living there with Hanare." The boy had a bright grin on his face that day and Kakashi had gladly accepted the offer.

Back then, it had only been six days, that he had adopted his daughter, Hanare. She had been an orphan and after all that had happened, Kakashi just couldn't. He couldn't get himself to love somebody after all that had happened. He casually met with Guy, did his duties as hokage until Naruto was finally ready for it (they couldn't just make a boy of 17 the hokage, could they) and he never complained. But adopting Hanare, had been his decision. And she was a marvelous daughter: good grades in school (though she despised math), always a sharp eye on him (telling him to go to bed when he was working overtime at night) and making him proud as a parent. It didn't feel much different than with team 7 though. Just this time, Kakashi had promised himself, this time he would do it right.

Though his friends had noted a change: Kakashi was now even later than usually. And Hanarae was probably to blame…

But she finally got her bag, put on her shoes and looked at her father, "shall we go? They are surely waiting already!"

* * *

06:00 P.M. – Teramachi Street 23

Sakura had her hands full. Just ten minutes ago Ino had dropped off her son and now Naruto and Hinata stood in the door. The kids had seen each other just the morning in school but they were already at it again. Sakura had prepared some dough to make Christmas cookies with the children. They would be staying overnight and she somehow had to manage it all.

Hinata put Himawari down and the little girl ran after her brother inside, throwing her shoes into some corners. Her mother looked at Sakura, "I'm sorry… We are going on a date and you have to take care of our little ones…"

"Oh it's quite alright Sakura smiled and quickly put the plate with the cookie ornaments down, "I have nothing to do anyway and Kakashi said he was coming over with Hanare."

"He didn't have anyone to go on a date eighter hm," Naruto put an arm around Hinata, "I'm sorry Sakura. My fault that-"

"Just get going," the pinkette smiled and shoved them both outside.

Meanwhile, Sarada had put on some Christmas music. Bolt had already run up to the table and looked at Inojin, who had started to prick out cookies in the shape of a star.

"Aunt Sakura! I want that too," the brat yelled and Sarada hit him with a thick book on the head. "Stop yelling at my mama," she said, adjusting her glasses. Bolt turned around to her, a cocky comment on his lips already, but Sakura intercepted.

"Kids, not today! It's Christmas and you should cease fighting just for today. Or no cookies." She crouched down, "do we have a deal?" The children looked at each other. After a second they nodded and Sakura got back up again.

"How about we backe some cookies then?"

"I want the tree shaped cutter! I want it!" Bolt grabbed it and started to randomly place it on the rolled out dough.

"You need to do it more properly," Sarada scolded him. She picked up the heart shaped cutter and showed him, "That's how you do it."

"Hahahaha Sarada is in love!"

She got red all of the sudden, "just because I used the cutter?! Then what are you? A tree hugger?"

Inojin hid under the table with his cutters, he didn't want to get in between the fights of those two. Sakura crawled up to him.

"How about the two of us get some tea?" The little boy smiled happily.

* * *

Some twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Sarada ran up to the door and jumped at her "sister Hanare!"

The eleven year old caught the smaller girl and twirled her around, "Sarada-chan!" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry for the delay."

"Let me guess," Sakura came over and separated the girls from each other, so that the guests could enter, "you got caught up on the path of life?" She grinned.

"Kind of," Kakashi took of his coat, shoes and scarf. He wanted to help his daughter, but she pushed his hand away.

"Stop it daddy! I am a big girl now, I can do that myself," she closed her eyes and started taking of her outdoor garments herself. Sarada watched her. The girl had that glitter in her eyes, as if the elder one was totally inspiring her.

They had dinner afterwards. Sakura had made her famous hot stew and chocolate mousse for afterwards. The kids were laughing and talking all the time. Meanwhile, the cookies were finally done in the oven.

Kakashi and Sakura sat down next to her kotatsu. Sarada ran upstairs with some cookies. She wanted to give her friends her self-made presents and the three others followed.

"You don't think they are going to rip each other apart?" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"Don't worry. Everytime your daughter is with them, they all try to impress her and behave."

"I wonder why that is." Both of them had to laugh. About a year ago, Bolt and Sarada had been fighting over whom Hanare liked better. Hanare was quit to react: "I hate idiots who fight over everything and I love this one here," she had then taken stunned Inojin into her arms and started cuddling the six year old boy. Bolt and Sarada had been behaving ever since.

Sakura handed her teacher a cup of tea. She still wondered how he could drink with the mask on, but he had perfected the art of it. Kakashi still never took of his mask.

"Are you really alright Sakura?"

She looked up and poured herself a cup, "what do you mean?"

"Well… all the others are going on dates today and you are sitting here with their kids, babysitting. Don't you mind?" Kakashi seemed to be truly concerned, but Sakura shook her head and draped herself comfortably onto the couch.

"Not at all. I know, he will make up for it."

"Sasuke…? Make up for missing Christmas?" Kakashi chuckled.

"You would be surprised. He can be quite romantic. Especially when he feels guilty."

They looked at each other for a moment. Then they started laughing.

* * *

Kakashi and Hanare stayed until nine. They had dinner together, played cards with the kids, exchanged presents and the kids tried to get Kakashi to take of his mask. They failed, but their attempts were quite funny to watch.

After the Hatakes' had left, Sakura brought the kids to bed. They would be sleeping in Saradas room. It was a challenge to get all three of them to brush their teeth and finally to stay in bed/sleepingbag – the kids had agreed on staying awake until they could catch santa claus. Sakura told them, he wouldn't come if the sandman hadn't done his work by getting them to sleep. She read them a small goodnight story and finally left a quiet nursery.

It was around eleven when she was finally done cleaning up the kitchen. She switched off the Christmas lights and went to bed.

* * *

**25th of December**

03:56 A.M. – Teramachi Street 23, nursery

Sarada clung onto her plush elephant. She tiptoed over her sleeping friends and slipped out of her room. Her feet were cold without socks on and she quickly made her way downstairs. Without stopping – who knows, there could have been monsters at any corner – she sneaked into the bathroom and locked the door from the inside. Thank god, the light revealed no monsters in the toilett.

After doing her business, she slipped into the kitchen, onto the counter and got herself some tap water. Sarada was already about to head upstairs again, still half asleep, when she noticed something:

There was something on the couch. She clutched the elephant closer to her chest and tiptoed around the couch, so she could see what it was, without coming too close.

It was a long dark something. She got a little closer. It wasn't something, it was someone. That someone had been so tired, that he had only managed to take of his shoes and seemingly had just then fallen onto the couch, fast asleep.

Sarada came closer and looked at the someone. He was wrapped in a long dark coat, over a white shirt. His bag and sword were next to the furniture he was sleeping on. It had her family crest on it.

The little girl smiled. She climbed upon the sleeping figure, underneath the cloak and onto the sleeping person's chest.

Sasuke woke up when someone joined him on the couch. He hadn't wanted to wake anybody, so he had just simply decided to sleep on the couch that night. And he hadn't expected anybody to be awake. He blinked and recognized his daughter, wearing her winter nightie, clutching her plush elephant onto her chest.

He cradled took her into his arms and draped his cloak over her, after feeling her cold feet.

It was still dark outside, so they got comfortable like that and went back to sleeping. Both of them, with a smile on their faces.

End of the Christmas Special 2014

* * *

**_My dear Readers!_**

_I wish you a wonderful Christmas! I hope you are doing well! It just started snowing outside! I'm so happy :D  
_

_Sadly, there won't be a new chapter this week, but you got the special and it's double the usual chapter size! I have been writing on it three weeks! Just for you :D It's 'canon' for this ff, so read it well, even if you are no big fan of christmas ;) I was working quite some time on it, to get the setting right. Since Naruto is a Japanese story and Christmas is more a couple holiday over there. But I think I managed... _

_What do you think about it? Please tell me like always via review or PM! I would love to hear your thoughts!_

_I wish you a most wonderful Christmas and, since the new chapter won't be out till New Year, already a happy New Year! _

_See you next week, take care! Thank you for reading!  
_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you very much for your ideas and thoughts!_

**SoundlessWorld**: Thank you for that awesome comment! You actually made me blush :D Hearing that there is someone, who is looking forward to it each week, makes me feel uncomfortable, everytime I'm writing, since I want to write in the best quality I can do and am always asking myself: Is it alright like that? I like the idea of Sarada and Bolt working together! They are an awesome team (and maybe more) ;) Thank you very much for commenting and reading. I will give my best to entertain you further! And trust me: the exams comming up and everything thats going to happen... It's going to be awesome! Thank you!

**IamWhatIamBaby**: Hahah trust me, Sasuke is the last person on earth in need of any help XD but a nice idea :D Please stay tuned, next week the chunin exams start... I already got them lined out... There are some awesome fights upcoming!

**Mars**: Thank you for the review! I know what you mean. Sarada IS right, but I guess Sasuke still loves her... In the end, he is always running erands for Naruto -.- maybe someone should get that dobe back on track... Please go on reading! I hope you like it!


	7. Chapter 06: Prelude

Chapter 6: Prelude

"You need to man up a bit!" Sarada looked onto her right, where a green and blue Inojin hung over the railing and had already puked for the second time, the day without eating anything. She rubbed his back, trying not to smell whatever he just threw up.

"Uhuuuuuu," he seemed to be her opinion, but couldn't say it out loud. If he would open his mouth, he would probably puke again.

"Oh boy…"

It had been three days since the ship had left the coast of the whirlpool country. On board, it had the Konoha genin teams, which had passed the first part of the chunin exams. Around 10 teams had made it (=30 people). Now they were being shipped off to the water country, for the practical exam.

The wind was steady, the water almost calm, but Inojin had become green the moment he had seen the ship. "I can't do that I can't do that…" he had been stuttering repeatedly but his teammates forced him to go on board. Ever since, Sarada had been in charge of him. It had been the worst when they had passed the whirlpools at the coast. But now it was much better, since the water had calmed down. Inojin had asked why they needed to take the ship (he had always been a little sickly and ships had never been his strength). The simple answer he got was, that it was the cheapest, safest and quickest way to the water country was.

"I'll go and see if I can get you some medicine from you teacher ok?"

Inojin nodded weakly. With a sight, Sarada left him there, "don't fall over board."

It was a small ship. Everywhere, people were sitting. Most teams sat together, discussing tactics and what they might want to do first upon arriving. The teachers had their own deck, so Sarada entered the ship.

She met Shizumasa on the first deck. He was lying on a couch, five girls draped around him, taking care of every demand he had:

"And you see, my lord father has always told me that I didn't need to lower myself to the peasant level. I still wanted to. Because you see," he snatched an apple from a girl's hand, "how could you know that we are so much better, if you never see us?" He bit the apple and even Sarada had to admit, he looked gorgeous. Though, the moment the girls started to swoon over him, she shook her head and went on with her search.

How in god's name was she supposed to work together with such an eccentric idiot?

"Talking about idiot… Bolt, what are you up to again?" The blonde dobe froze right where he was: at the entrance to the girls' toilets.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he turned around slowly, with a guilty look on his face. His teammate couldn't say anything to him, because just then two girls left the bathroom. It was Momoka and her friend Shura. They saw Bolt and Momoka almost fainted.

"Leave her alone you creep," Shura yelled and lead her friend carefully away.

"Thanks a lot, Haruno…" he turned to Sarada.

"You were just about to enter the girl's toilet. You ARE a creep. But anyway," she put her hands on her hips, "do you know where the teachers' lounge is?"

"Two decks down I guess," he muttered and went after Momoka and her friend again. He once had met a bet with Hotaru that he could get all of the girls in their senior class to go on a date with him. Since Sarada didn't count (she was no 'girl' because they had always been friends and the idea of dating her, creeped him out), Momoka was the only girl left who had successfully avoided going on a date with Bolt. And Bolt hated loosing, so he was persuading his goal, even while Hotaru was out cold in the hospital. He wanted to surprise the boy, the he woke up. Sarada thought it was a silly bet, but both boys were very passionate about it.

On her way down the stairs, she met some more familiar faces from her graduating class: Akimichi Chocho, the chubby clan heiress, was talking with her friends while going upstairs. She didn't even look at Sarada. She pressed herself onto the wall, to let the group pass.

"…And father said, when I am finally a chunin, he will buy me dinner at the Moartiè restaurant in Konoha city and…"

Sarada rolled her eyes. The girl had always been spoiled. Her mother was from another village and the daughter of one of the richest men there, just like her father had inherited the legacy of the Akimichi clan. They could afford a lot and Chocho only had to smile at her parents to get whatever she wanted.

Saradas family wasn't poor either. The hokage paid her father quite a lot for all the s-rank missions he had to do and her mother was senior physician at the big Konoha city hospital. But they would save all their money, to go on a nice holiday or renovate the flat. Or buy a house. Which is why, even if Sarada did make it this time, she wouldn't get an expensive evening out. Anyway, she preferred her mother's cooking over any restaurant.

At the crowds end, a dark haired boy followed. His name was Nara Shikadai. His mother was the bravest and most fierce warrior Sarada ever met and his father was the hokages personal consultant, but the boy didn't look like he had gotten anything from his parents. His little brother had just this year graduated and was now in a team with Bolts little sister Himawari and the son of the Konoha taijutsu prodigy, Rock Lee. The three of them were the most anticipated new team and had yet to prove themselves.

Shikadai greeted Sarada with rolling his eyes and a short ,"moin Sarada…"

She smiled back and made her way back down. Hopefully Chocho wouldn't find Inojin before she was back. Chocho felt that Inojin had to get manlier – but through a different treatment, than Sarada had proposed: Chocho had, one day at the academy, promised to bully Inojin until the day he would have enough, man up and beat the heck out of her. Inojin had just smiled uncomfortably. Nobody had believed Chocho that day, but from the next morning on she had started commenting him on any task he had to do.

At graduation, Inojin, Shikadai and Chocho had been put together on a team and the blonde boy had almost fainted. He had hoped to not spend too much time with her anymore and being on a team with his bully, didn't really help him. Sarada had spoken to their homeroom teacher why she had to work with Bolt instead of Inojin. She had pleaded to be put on a team with Hotaru and Inojin, but the teacher Aburame hadn't listened.

* * *

While Sarada was still searching for the teachers, to get some medicine for her friend, Chocho and Shikadai had reached the deck. The girl spotted Inojin, grinned and made her way over to him.

"Huh are we still feeling sick," she mocked. Inojin smiled weakly.

"Yes… Good morning… Chocho…" he had tried to look at her, but he had to look into the water quickly. Another load was coming up. Chocho looked at him, disgusted.

"Really now? How are we supposed to make it with such a weak member," she looked at Shikadai. Her fans nodded wildly. The boy only shrugged.

"He can do it… As long as we survive the practical part now…"

"I… I am awesome on land… you know that…"

"Yeah... totally…"

"Stop it Chocho!"

Sarada had finally come back. She had pulled Shizumasa and Bolt with her. "He is your friend and teammember! Be nice to him!" She handed the medicine Inojin and ignored the angry Chocho. The girl was pretty pissed.

"You! Haruno! You listen! Now," she put her hands on her hips, leaned a little forward and moved her head while talking. It was her famous fighting stance. Sarada turned around, positioned herself in front of Inojin, crossed her arms in front of her chest and lifted her head a little. She made the perfect bitch face.

"And here we go again…" Bolt shook his head.

"What do you mean," Shizumasa stood there, quite bored as it seemed and watched the two girls getting ready. He didn't even realize that Chochos fanclub was whispering and pointing at him. Some of them were blushing.

"Aaaah they have been at it since academy days," the Uzumaki explained, "most of the time because off Inojin, but sometimes because Chocho didn't like Saradas dress, Sarada was angered by Chochos attitude… They could go on endlessly…"

"Well, sounds like there is a good bitch fight coming up." Shizumasa waved at a nearby girl and she brought him a chair. Bolt was stunned as the older boy sat down.

"How do you do that?"

"It's quite easy. All you have to do is-"

"Stick to your own problems, bitch. Inojin is my teammate and I can do with him, as I freaking please," Chocho bitched.

"Oh girly. Is that all you got? Bad words and obvious statements? Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Ooooh now I'm scared…" the dark skinned girl laughed, "trust me princess, if I wanted to hurt you, I would simply-"

"You would simply what? Run up to me and punch me? Don't make me laugh! You couldn't even hit me if you were only half of what you are now!" This was a hit down below the belt.

"You asshole," Chocho hissed. She was about to say something even meaner, when there was suddenly a bell and an announcement.

"Ladys and Gentlemen! We are reaching our destination: Kazanretto, the volcanic island. Please regroup with your team and teachers on deck and prepare to deboard."

The girls relaxed. Bolt waved Sarada over and Chocho pulled Inojin away from the railing to the other side of the ship.

Ako joined her pupils and gave them some last instructions.

* * *

The island was about 50 square kilometers. It had two small inactive ones and a huge volcano in the north east. From aboard the ship, they had seen it blow small dust clouds into the sky. Otherwise, the island had white beaches all around, a part with dark cliffs, which formed natural sculptures high up into the sky on the north western part. Those were perforated and the sea was quite rough. But everything the examinees could was a part of the beach, followed by a dark jungle. Because some meters into it, thick mist rose above the tree tops and covered everything to be seen above and within.

"Can you hear it?" Bolt whispered to Shizumasa. The older guy raised is brows and hid his arms within his wide sleeves.

"Of course. Who do you take me for?"

"Hahah," Bolt grinned, "you can't hear a thing!"

"What are you-" Shizumasa wanted to hit bolt, but Sarada caught his pale fist mid-air.

"Shhh… we need that idiot."

"He offended me."

Sarada adjusted her glasses, "he doesn't mean it like that."

"Enlighten me?"

"You cannot hear anything, which is very unusual for such a huge forest. Shouldn't there be animal noises? Running water?" Shizumasa understood. He might have been a prick, but not an idiot.

Ako smiled. She was proud, that her students had caught up that fast, "this truly is no forest that you have ever seen."

* * *

The examinees from Konoha met with the other village's candidates at a camp site on the beach. Sarada asked Ako, how many students had mastered the first exam and were now allowed to take part in the second part.

"Well, of course there are the 30 examinees from Konoha, 12 teams from Suna, 18 from Kiri, Iwa sent 9, none from Kumogakure… and some 10 teams form other, smaller villages. Which makes…"

"…round about 177 participants, right?" Sarada started thinking. The number was quite high for a second exam. Ako knew why the girl wanted to know.

"Trust me, this stage is quite harsh. It's probably the hardest from the five we have."

"Worse than the forest of death?" Bolt groaned. He had had his problems back there and now?

"Hush now," Ako patted the boys head, "they are now giving the instructions."

A loud gong was heard and everybody got silent in an instant. A group of five people entered a stage, in front of the examinees.

"Welcome," a man with black hair said. He was muscular and wore the headband from Kirigakure, "welcome at the second exam of this year's chunin exams! My name is Kuriarare Taroshi and I am the supervisor of this stage. This island might not look very dangerous, but you will be surprised. My young collegue from Iwa will now explain the rules to you. Listen well," he grinned and everybody could see his sharp teeth, "because we won't say them again." He took a step back.

A man around 18 took his place, "hello examinees from all the countries! Welcome on Kazanretto. At nightfall, in approximately 226 minutes, you will start the second part of the chunin exams. Each team will start from a different point on the beach, with at least 200 meters in between each team." Suddenly, a white screen rolled down behind the officers and a map of the island popped up. "Your goal is to collect, within 7 days of time, at least 33 points to pass the exam and to enter stage three: the one on one battles in the unity arena." The man passed over to the Konoha representative. A young woman with shaggy white hair and coal dark eyes. She spoke with a mocking smile on her face. The name was Hatake Hanare.

"To gather these points, you have to do some tests," she pointed at the map, "we parted the island into five zones with different levels of difficulty." The examinees looked at each other. This was totally different from what they had known before.

"We have very easy tests in level 1 areas, but there are also level 4 areas. In level 1, you get 2 points for solving a puzzle or passing a test. Level 2 gives 4 each, level 3 –quite difficult already- means 7 points and level 4," her grin got even broader, "level 4 means 9 points. Now you can calculate yourselves, how many tests of one level you need to do, to get your 33. And don't think you can just do level 1 tests until the time is over. Each test can only be done once! And of course," she winked, "we took great care to balance it all out."

Hanare waved and a man with the headband from Kumogakure stepped up. A group of other ninjas came up to the examinees and gave out bracelets in different colors.

"Be careful! As you may have already noticed, the island is very dangerous itself. The forest is inhabited by dangerous carnivores, be careful with the water supplies and always keep the name of the island in mind! For each test you pass, you are rewarded with a supply package. There might be food, water, ration pills, medication or even weapons. The quality and amount depends on the difficulty level of the test you just passed. There are also two save houses on the island. If you enter one or take of this bracelet," he held one up. Bolt looked down onto his. It was red with gold ornaments, "they are beautiful, aren't they?" The man smiled at the genin. "Well, if you take them off, you and your group are automatically disqualified and will have to wait until the test is over, to leave the island together with all the others. If you need immediate help," he turned the bracelet around, "you put your thumb onto this small panel. It activates a locator. To keep the death count low, please don't hesitate to call for help!"

He stepped back and another woman waved at the crowd.

"We are almost done! Only 6 out of the 59 teams are allowed to pass, which means: Even if you have gathered 33 points, you haven't yet passed. You will need to bring the bracelets at that moment back to one of the five check points and the teams with the highest amount of points, will pass. Commander Kuriarare, please." She bowed and the first man stood in front again. The crowd had grown tense with all this talk and they had started to whisper. But as soon as he raised his voice,

"You have now heard about all the rules, except for one." He raised his hand and the island's map vanished. A picture with all the current kage appeared, "each of our great leaders has created a very special test. If you manage to pass one of those five extra hard tests, you are granted 11 points!" The genin started to whisper again. "And, a team that manages to gather all 33 points and passes a kage's test, passes the exam, however many other teams have more points."

"It's like," Bolt whispered to Sarada, "if we pass a kage test, we are... Safe?" Sarada nodded.

"Now all the teachers to us. You will draw the start position of your group from this bag."

Ako made her way to the front and not 20 minutes later, they were on a boat to the western side of the island, together with 15 other teams. Sarada had to hold onto her glasses, because the wind was harsh. Bolt stood next to her and Shizumasa behind them. All three of them look towards the sinking sun on the horizon, the wind in their hair.

End of Chapter 6

* * *

_**Happy New Year! **_

_Happy new year and may it bring you everything you ever wished for! The delay was due to my hangover... I sometimes drink worse than Tsunade ;)  
_

_You finally met some of the other genin! How do you like them? Right now, they have just started their journey and there will be a lot of developement and plottwists ahead. It won't always go the way Bolt and Sarada want it to go... but well: Does it ever go as wished/planned?_

_Please tell me how you liked it/disliked it, what do you think is going to happen? Do you like Hanare Hatake? Hihihihi  
_

_See you next week with a chapter called "Jungle Beat"!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

_**Review Answers**_

_Thanks to my readers and reviewers!_

_**Kronus96**:Yes... she really has some issues. I just hope she never ends up in Barney Stinsons Bed like "who is your daddy?"... . Thanks for the review and I will gladly go on writing!_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Hahaha I always want to get better, but if nobody tells you how to, you are kind of lost somewhere... Yeah they are similar. A lot actually. But Bolt is not exactly his father, just as Sarada is not Sasuke... Especially Bolt will be developing a lot different than Naruto later on... And thanky ou for the cheesy moment :3_

_** Soul Raider 116**: Thank you for the awesome review! I know I have problems with spelling and some with grammar... English is not my mothertongue... And I still don't have a Beta T.T I will check the chapters again :D THX! For Kakashi, I had threee women I could have gotten him together with, Ayame was one of them. But I rather liked the idea of him as a single parent... And you will meet Karin again. Somehow she always gets what she wants, doesn't she? I will spellcheck and go on writing! Thank you very much!  
_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: Thanks for the review! They are really cute together, aren't they? I personally even like the times when she is all the teenager and he is just like 'I don't get her' XD I hope you will like what is coming up. There is some nasty stuff on the way :D Please go on reading! I will make it as interesting as possible ;)  
_


	8. Chapter 07: The first night

Chapter 7: The first night

It was Sunday night, 06:30 P.M. The sun was quickly falling beyond the horizon and the groups stood with their teachers on the beach. Between each team were around 300 meters of free space, which was patrolled by officers.

From within the island, a red signal rocket was fired. Ako gave her team some last instructions.

"Work together."

"Yes…"

"Don't slack off!"

"We won't."

"Be careful with your supplies!"

"Don't be reckless!"

"…"

"And please," the usual happy looking, funny Ako was completely gone, "please don't let them provoke you. Your temper," she patted Sarada and Bolt on their heads, "is the only thing standing in your way." The teenagers looked at each other.

"We won't."

"Promise me."

But there was no time. From within the island, the green signal rocket was fired.

The team high fived Ako and rushed into the dark Jungle.

"I just hope they get their shit together…" Ako opened her long ponytail and loosened up her hair. The red on the tips looked like fire in the light of the sunset.

"Don't be afraid. They are going to make it," a friendly voice said. The teacher turned around and 20 year old Hanare Hatake stood there with a torch.

"I have no doubt that they will make it," Ako explained, "I have my doubts about the HOW."

Hanare laughed, "Don't think too much. There are cameras everywhere and in the daily update, we can watch our favorite teams mess it all up."

"You are so mean!" They walked back to the ship, arm in arm and laughing.

* * *

It was dark in the jungle. All she could see was Shizumasa's white hair and garments. They were silent. Completely silent. At least the mist had cleared. The group stopped in the middle of the forest.

"Anybody got a clue where we are?"

"Not really," Bolt sat down on a huge root.

The jungle was thicker than any other forest that they had ever seen. Even Shizumasa stayed close to them, just in case. There was no sound. Really, nothing.

"So what's the plan?"

"Well…" Sarada sat next to Bolt and folded her hands. She loved playing with her thumbs by quickly turning them around each other. It helped her think. "I vote for trying to stay save for the night. In the morning we should go and gather information. Afterwards-"

"Too slow," Shizumasa interrupted, "have you done the math?" His teammates looked at him. The lordling just sighed.

"Don't you learn that at your awesome ninja school? Listen, we have 7 days to collect at least 33 points, which would be 17 level I tests, 9 level II tests, 5 level III tests and 4 level IV tests. They said each test can only be done once. We have 59 teams and only 6 of them will pass. Which means only 10% of the participants will pass. The number of teams decreases by not reaching the needed amount of points in time, by default, taking of the bracelets," he held his arm up. "Anyway, to balance the game, they have surely less level I and level IV tests, than level II and level III tests. Ako-sensei told us that all teams will be dropped off in the beach area, which is level I. This means, everyone is starting with a level I test. Everyone will try to get as many points on low level tests to warm-up to the system and to grab the first points."

Sarada and Bolt were still listening closely. The girl more, than the boy. At the ninja academy they had been taught a lot of things: Japanese (writing and reading), history, arts and basic math. But furthermost they had been taught the basics of fighting and fulfilling missions for the village. The chunin exam's first test was always a written test with questions about higher mathematics, history and sometimes most recent politics, to sort the wheat from the chaff (even though most of them simply cheated, since the test had never been about giving correct answers anyways).

Well, he had the education only a royal prince could get, Sarada thought and nodded.

"There are at least 59 tests in this area, but I bet there are no more than 65 and if those would be evenly spread," he crossed his arms and hid his hands in the wide sleeves of his shirt, "it would be too easy."

"You mean, we should get going now or we have to figure everything out with a harder test than necessary and take away the other team's chances to earn experience and points," Sarada summed up for Bolt. The blonde dobe had probably understood, but better say it again. Just in case.

Shizumasa nodded. "It delights me that at least you understood." Bolt rolled his eyes, "great… in any case, let's get going and find a test worth doing…" he grunted and got back up from the root he had sat on.

"Ako didn't say anything about how we would be able to find those tests?" Bolt looked over to Shizumasa. But the silver head just shrugged, "I have no idea."

"Guys, look!" Sarada was still sitting on the root. She pointed at the place where Bolt had just sat a second ago:

A pale green light in the shape of an ammonite fossil was glowing in the night. Sarada touched it carefully and the light brightened up.

"What's that? It looks a little bit like my family crest," the blonde boy said and compared the glowing tree engraving with the sign on his arm.

"The Uzumaki clan were the ones who founded the village hidden in the whirlpools, Uzu no gakure. And the village was the water country's first ninja village until it was destroyed over 50 years ago… Your family is one of the water country's oldest ninja families. No wonder your crest is here."

"Someone knows their history," Shizumasa seemed to be impressed.

"How the heck do you- I don't need to ask, do I," Bolt shook his head, "you read it in a book…"

"You didn't know that?"

"My dad has no idea about these things," the blonde dobe scratched his head, "and I'm sure he doesn't know either that our family crest comes from… actually what is this?"

"This is an ammonite. Today, you can only find fossils of this size," she held her hand against it. The engraving was double the size. "But their smaller siblings are still living in the oceans around the former Uzu no Kuni," Sarada explained.

"Enough of this... Look at your bracelet." Shizumasa held his up and Sarada looked down onto hers. Glowing signs had appeared on the display: Push to activate.

"Let's push it," Bolt grinned and without a warning, he pushed in the engraving. There was a loud clicking noise, like a gear being put back into place. At first nothing happened. A second later though, the trees around them started to glow green and light up the small clearing they were in: the ground was covered by dark green grass, fallen leaves, windfalls and blossoms. But except for the lighting up, nothing happened.

"Great," Bolt joked, "this helps a lot."

Shizumasa and Sarada looked around; searching for a clue what to do now, but there was none. With a questioning look, they looked onto their bracelets again. It now said-

"Match? What are we supposed to match?" Sarada sighed. This was not what she had expected. She started talking to the boys. But neither had a clue. All they had was the clearing and the word 'match'. What did it mean? To match in power? To have a match?

Bolt stopped listening at some point. He had no idea what to do. For sure, the other two would fill him in the moment one of them had a brilliant idea. But he couldn't help them thinking. His words would probably just disturb the geniuses. He sat down and grabbed a fallen apple. It looked a little old, so he threw it away.

It was just then, when Bolt noticed something.

"Guys," he called out.

"Not now Bolt… We are thinking-"

"Just get over here," the blonde boy picked up some more windfalls. His teammates raised their brows.

"What is it, pumpkin head," the lordling asked. Usually, Bolt would hit him for calling him a pumpkin head, but not now.

"Look… what is this?" He held up a fruit.

"It looks like a normal plum to me."

"Great! And this one?"

"An apple Bolt… Just an apple…"

"You are a genius. And what is this?"

"That's a walnut. Bolt what are you-"but Shizumasa stopped right there. Bolt grinned.

"Exactly! This is a jungle! There shouldn't be such things as walnuts and apples and plums. And there are even more."

For the first time Sarada and Shizumasa looked closely. Bolt was right: all the windfalls were fruits and nuts that didn't belong into a jungle.

Sarada's eyes found a bare tree.

"We have to match the fruits and leaves with the bare trees..?" She raised her brows even higher. They almost vanished under her bangs.

"And probably the blossoms too," Shizumasa bent down and picked one up. It was white, "I found the apple tree's blossom."

Sarada smiled at Bolt, "you are a genius!"

"Aaah not really," the blonde boy blushed a little.

* * *

In the end, it was a simple test of knowledge. Looking at the wood and bark of the bare trees (there were six of them), they matched fruits, leaves and blossoms to the right tree. They didn't know one or two, but going 'trial and error', they found even those.

As soon as Bolt placed the last leave under the cherry tree, the bare trees disappeared and with them the green light. They turned back around to the root with the tree engraving. It was glowing in pure white. Sarada checked her bracelet. The word 'match' had vanished. Instead it said 'level cleared'.

"I guess we did it," she took of her glasses and cleaned them on her shirt. There was a little flower dust on them.

"Mine doesn't turn dark anymore," Bolt complained. He shook his arm up and down, but the small ciphers didn't vanish.

"What does it say?"

"2."

"Just '2'?" Shizumasa looked at his, "well '2' is the number of points we get for a level I test. Seems like in the end every bracelet will at least show the number '11' when we are through…."

"What about our-"just as Sarada wanted to say 'reward', a small box dropped onto her head. Bolt laughed, "Hahahhahahahahaha you got pawned!"

"Oh shut it," she replied angrily and opened it, "that's a map!"

"Really? They gave us a map for solving…. A tree puzzle," Shizumasa came closer, "I cannot see anything."

"It's too dark. It must be at least midnight by now… We took our time with the cherry and hazelnut trees..."

Bolt looked at his teammates. "May I suggest something? It's late and we won't get anywhere tonight. Let's climb the highest tree around and go to sleep. We can get up at first light and study the map… but we should get a night full of sleep."

"We will lose precious time if we slack of now!"

"You are both right," Sarada put a hand on Shizumasa's shoulder. The other guy glared at her, "but we need to rest. If we exhaust ourselves here, we won't get anywhere tomorrow. We have been working as ninja for almost three years now. We know when to save our strength and when to go all out."

"A prince doesn't sleep in a tree." Shizumasa pushed away her hand. Bolt was about to get angry again, but Sarada just shrugged, "you have to live with that for now. Until we finished this test, there won't be any feather beds, or awesome breakfasts. And up in a tree is actually quite alright. Rather up there, than on the dirty ground."

She concentrated her chakra and started to climb the thickest tree around. Bolt waited until she was above the first leaves.

"I want to really beat the crap out of you."

"Try it. You couldn't lay one hit on me," Shizumasa looked down to the blonde.

"Shut it you arrogant little shit! If you want to be a ninja, you have to live the life of a ninja! Stop complaining about every little thing. You are no better than us with your great education and shit," Bolt was really angry, "Sarada said that we had to work as a team. So I will work with you. Without the team, we are lost. Are you going to work with the team?" Bolt held out a hand to Shizumasa, but the silver haired boy ignored it.

"You are beneath me. It is not your place to lecture me and if you ever try to do it again-"

"Sarada will beat the heck out of us both. Trust me; she is stronger than she looks."

"She certainly is stronger than you are Bolt," Shizumasa turned to the tree to follow Sarada up, "but she is no match for me either."

Bolt waited until he was gone. He balled his fists and punched the tree. The bark caved in and some skin peeled off from his knuckles.

"Stupid bastard," he grunted, "stupid arrogant bastard." His father had always told Bolt stories about how he had competed with Sarada's dad all the time. But this was different. Yes, Bolt had tried to impress his friends, but they had never been the kind who competed. Hotaru was the analyst, Sarada the strategist and he was the brawler. Most of the time, their teacher would just observe and comment afterwards. But with Hotaru out cold, Sarada took over his job too. All that was left for Bolt was to try to be of any help, though he had never been of any use to her.

Ever since, he trained his mind just as much as he trained his body. He needed to get at least down to the basics of strategy and analyzing. Because he couldn't dwell on Sarada forever, could he? What he did never learn, was to cope with selfish, arrogant idiots like Shizumasa was. Was it his fault? Was he trying to kick Shizumasa from the team, because there was still hope for Hotaru? Or was the lordling simply being a prick all the time?

Bolt didn't know. All he knew was that they needed to stick together for the next seven days. Seven long, harsh days with lots of fighting coming up. Yes, they had been training the last two weeks. No, they didn't succeed in carrying out awesome combinations like they used to. Something went missing, the moment Hotaru had been removed from the team. Bolt just wasn't yet sure, what.

* * *

From atop the tree, Sarada saw the stars. She had found a nice thick branch and sat down on it. Spreading the contents of her bag, Sarada found some dried fruits and water. She sorted everything: The medical scrolls and basic herbs into one pocket, food and drink into the other, Weapons into the side pockets and the insides of her west.

Her mother had been right with the clothing choice: ankle long, dark leggings; a dark blue kimono style top, which reached down over her butt. The sleeves were tight and fitted under her black gloves, similar to her mothers. On the back was her father's family crest. But she didn't like it, so she wore a warm west over it, with the white circle of her mother's family. Sarada really did not like her father that much.

After putting everything back together, there was still a small box left. It hadn't been her, who packed it. By observing it closer, she found a small note from her mother: "Please, at least look at it. Good luck darling!" It was her father's good-bye present. Sarada hadn't asked for a bribe from her father. So she carelessly threw it back into her bag.

"Who is taking the first night shift?" An annoying voice brought Sarada back from within her head.

Shizumasa had finally made it up the tree Bolt followed after him.

"I'll take it," the girl declared and stood up, "Bolt, would you mind taking the second one?" The blonde dobe shook his head, "I don't mind."

"I'm fine with the morning shift," Shizumasa turned around and climbed up a little higher, where he made himself comfortable on a tree branch. Bolt and Sarada looked at each other for a moment, than the boy went after the lordling.

Sarada stretched and looked at the stars. They were truly beautiful.

End of Chapter 7

* * *

**_Hey there lovely people!_**

_I thank you very much for reading this chapter! I really wanted to call it 'Jungle Beat', but I decided that I wouldkeep the title for a chapter it deserved. Rather than a slow moving chap like this one. The test is actually one, my little cousin had as homework some time ago. Will all the tests be like this one? No, they won't! I can assure you. This was level I. It's easy, but time intensive to get just 2 points...  
_

_In the next chapter, we will get to see some other teams again and the real fight starts. Be prepared! (~for a chance of your lifetime! Be prepared for sensational news! A shining new era, is tiptoeing nearer- enought lion king..)  
_

_Well, how did you like the chapter? Was it ok? Please leave a review! If positive, or negative... I can take it! But to get better, I need them! :D Please help me._

_I'm sorry that this chapter was late again. My uni tests just started and I had to win against Japanese and Japanese law last week... But well: Take care and see you thursday, the 22nd January 2015!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_All the best__ to my readers and reviewers! Here, you get your answers!_

_**Soul Raider 116**: Thank you for the help! I really appreciate it! I started correcting the previous chapters, but didn't upload them yet. Since I got my new laptop, I had to get used to the new keyboard and with the tests coming up, I didn't really have time to correct everything_... _concerning the story: OMG you will defenitelly be suprised when the next chapter comes up... oh yeah.. And actually: Quite a nice idea XD Bolt couldn't imagine that his father was capable of anything without help, could he? :D Thank you for the review! Please stay tuned :D_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: I don't know why, but everytime I see Chocho Akimichi, I have to think of Nicki Minaj.. O.o And there is a good reason for Bolt being that way :D Stay tuned for more info! ;) And nope... Sasuke won't have an active appearance in the upcoming chapters... But more of the young generation is coming!  
_

_**MyBlanketVines**: Thank you very much! :) It's nice to hear you liked the christmas special .  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Oh yep, you are right with that one! They are quite similar. Just: Sarada will maybe have boobs someday... . Nope, officially Shikadai has no younger brother. But I thought, Temari was from a family with three kids, I'm sure she would want at least two babys herself :) And Himawari... well that's going to be a new plotpoint in the future :D THX for the review! Please continue to read :3  
_


	9. Chapter 08: Jungle Beat

Chapter 8: Jungle Beat

The tree fell. A huge explosion had set the trunk on fire and a second one had blasted away most of the wood on the weather-beaten side. It was now leaning to one side, being held up only by some thick vines, but those wouldn't hold it much longer. Smoke rose from the trees and sent a huge signal to the other teams: We are here and we are fighting.

* * *

It had been early morning when the attack had started.

Bolt had just woken up Shizumasa when they heard an explosion down below. The boys exchanged looks and had searched for Sarada. They couldn't find her, so they decided to get busy themselves.

Shizumasa drew his sword 'Honjo Masamune' and protected Bolt from some kunai. Each of them had an exploding tag attached. Multiple smaller explosions made the silver head loose his balance. He fell, but got caught by metal chains:

Bolt was hanging upside down, long spiked chains emerging from his reaching out hand. He slightly tugged on them; they retracted and pulled Shizumasa up with them.

The lordling jumped onto the branch, next to Bolt, "that's your power?"

"Actually, my grandmothers. But whatever," he swung around, back onto the upper side of the branch, "where is Sarada?"

"No clue," Shizumasa was about to sheath his sword, but Bolt stopped him. "We will need that again soon. Stay alerted… Duck!"

Another bunch of kunai flew their way. The boys barely avoided them and Bolt sent some of his chains into the directions they had come from. The chains anchored themselves into trees, to straighten themselves. Shizumasa took the opportunity, jumped onto the lowest chain and ran his sword ready to strike, on top of it into the woods.

He spotted one of the attackers. With a swift movement, he leaped over. Steel met steel the moment Shizumasa had left the chain. The opponent met his blade with a simple kunai. It blocked the lordling's attack, but pushed the other one straight into a tree.

"Futon: Windbullet!

Shizumasa had just enough time to jump aside. The attack hit the enemy ninja frontal. But only scratched the silver head. Suddenly, a bunch of chains wrapped around both enemies, restraining their movements completely.

"That's it?" Bolt ran up to Shizumasa and pulled both captives with him carelessly. They bumped into trees more than once.

"Seems like it," the lordling looked around, ready to counter another attack, "where is Haruno?"

"No id-"

But Bolt wasn't able to finish his sentence. He heard another big explosion behind them: a second explosion had set their resting trees trunk completely on fire and it was now leaning to the west, being held up by thick, but burning vines.

"She's down there," the blonde said. He was about to drop his captives, but Shizumasa held him back.

"I'll take care of this."

* * *

Sarada was in a pinch. The attackers had come out of nowhere and there hadn't been any time to call the others. She simply used one of her fire style techniques and sent a huge fireball towards the attackers. They saw that she was alone, split up and she was up against one, while his partners were trying to figure out where her teammates were.

He wore a headband from Sunagakure over his chin long red hair and grinned like he was absolutely sure, he could beat her hands down. But Sarada wasn't an easy enemy.

She threw a kunai at him, just a distraction, leaped to the left and closed some hand signs.

"Katon: Phoenix fire!" Around 13 small flames went straight after the boy. He smirked, pulled out a fan and waved it. The wind he created extinguished the flames, but it wasn't strong enough to stop the shuriken, which had been hidden within the fire.

Those nailed him against a small tree, but he had just the time to send a bigger wind technique her direction. Sarada avoided it and it hit the already burning tree trunk. It seemed like someone had accidently thrown some explosion tags there earlier. The trunk exploded a second time. The tree slowly leaned to the west.

Sarada tried to grab the attacker by the neck, but he had used the body replacement technique and she just hit a piece of wood.

"Wind release: Wind cutter technique!"

There was no time to duck, nor could she jump out of the path of the slashing wind wave coming at her. Sarada crossed her arms in front of her face, to prevent damage. Just in the moment the wind was supposed to hit her, she got pulled up. A heavy chain had wrapped around her waist. She looked around and saw that the attacker was completely immobilized by another chain.

"Hey there girly," a cheery voice said. Bolt retracted both chains and helped her stand next to him on the leaning trunk, "that didn't look very good hm. Where were you with your mind?"

Sarada pouted, "You know I cannot fight right after waking up." The Uzumaki laughed. She hit him in the gut.

"Ooooh ok… alright I got it…"

Shizumasa jumped right next to them. He let the other two captives down and tied the up neatly with vines, while watching his team. Bolt was looking at Sarada, checking if she was hurt and the girl slapped his helping hands away, freeing herself from the chain around her waist.

The forest around them was a mess: The tree they had slept on had bent over to the west. Most of the trees underneath it, couldn't support its weight and were about to snap. The trees on the eastern side of the trunk were burning and sent dark smoke signals into the air.

"Oh look," Bolt grinned and pointed into the smoke, "Looks like the Shoshones dug up the folding-chair."

"If they are Shoshones," Shizumasa pointed at the three captives, "what are we?" He stood up and looked around. He couldn't find any approaching enemies, so he finally sheathed his sword.

"I can't believe it! You understood that reference?" Bolt's face was one of surprise.

"Shouldn't I," the other one grunted.

"Abahachi, Winnetouch: if you could please redirect your attention back to these three suckers here?"

Sarada was getting impatient. She studied the faces of their captives. Thank god they had already gagged them. There was no way that she would be able to endure her team comrades and the captives blabbering at the same time.

The three of them, were boys. One wore his headband around his neck (Bolt had shoved it into his mouth, to make sure he wouldn't lose it). He had very short blonde hair, brown eyes and wore kunai shaped earrings. The second one had been gagged with a branch (obviously also Bolts work). He didn't have any hair except for a short blue Mohawk. He was tattooed all over his head, some even on his face, covering his close eyes.

The third one seemed to grin at Sarada. He was the redhead, she had been fighting. He also wore one earring, but his headband on his forehead. She pulled the piece of cloth out of his mouth.

"You idiots should listen to Miss Uschi and turn your attention down here," he jested. He had a smile on his lips. But it didn't reach his eyes. Those were cold and seemed to be searching for a way out.

Saradas boys turned their heads finally to the captives.

"I know this one," Bolt bent down and poked the red head's cheek, "he is an old friend of mine."

"Old friend… hahahaha that was a good one Bolt," he laughed, "We haven't seen each other in years!"

"Awe, don't be mad at me. It's not like either of us had time to pay a visit. May I introduce you," Bolt got up again, "Sabakuno Tadashi. The son of the previous Kazekage: Gaara of the desert." The red head nodded slowly, "I would bow and kiss your hand my lady, but as you can see, I am a little too tied up to move." Sarada raised her brows and simply adjusted her glasses.

"May I introduce, this one is Izuru," he nodded to the blonde guy, "and this one is called Motozu. Please say hello my friends." They did nothing but stare at their leader with an expression that said 'are you kidding me'.

Shizumasa and Sarada exchanged looks. The red one could say and do whatever he wanted; they were not going to untie him. However nice and happy he was. While Bolt was still chatting with his friend, his team was still thinking about the incident. After five minutes, Shizumasa interrupted Bolt:

"Why did you attack us?"

Bolt was about to say something mean to make the lordling shut up, but Tadashi was quicker, "don't look at me with those eyes. They are screaming 'I'm gonna kill you'!" He laughed again.

"But seriously, we didn't know who you were. My friends found an enemy team and reported three Konoha shinobi. So we decided to take our chances."

"Why would you attack another team? You would gain nothing from it, would you?" Bolt seemed puzzled. Hadn't Sarada explained that it was all about passing these stupid tests and gaining points? So why would they simply attack any other team?

"They wanted to decrease the number of potential enemies." Sarada put down her glasses. There was dirt on it. She pulled out a clean cloth and carefully rubbed over the glass. After checking two times, she put them back up. "I vote for leaving them here. Rewrap them with your chains and once we are far enough away, they should be able to free themselves."

"True… my chains dissolve when I'm farther away than a kilometer. Should be possible," Bolt rubbed his chin, thinking.

"Let's get going… The smoke surely attracted other teams." Shizumasa turned around. He shook his head about the stupidity of some people.

Sarada nodded and checked all her things. She didn't want to leave anything behind Just as Bolt wanted to wrap his chains around them, the red head spoke again.

"Wait! There is something I need to tell you," his voice had suddenly lost its funny undertone, "she is here, Bolt."

"Who?"

"You know…"

"Who are you talking about?" Bolt seemed genuinely puzzled, "I'm from Konoha, Tadashi. I have no idea who 'she' is, except you are referring to Sarada here and if you believe it or not: I am well aware of her presence." The black haired girl grinned.

"I am talking about Saeko. Do you remember?"

Bolt frowned, "oh yes… I remember… what about her?" He finally wrapped his chains around the three of them. Sarada cut the vines and was about to gag Tadashi again. He had just the time to spit out some more words: "She is here and she is after you."

* * *

They travelled in silence. Sarada jumped ahead in the middle, flanked by her boys shortly behind her. They had orientated themselves with the help of the map they had gotten the day before. And it was a useful map: it depicted the island like a hiking map with height measures, official hiking paths and different colors, showing where the jungle was the thickest, where lakes and rivers run. The three of them had agreed on a marking system. They would mark different level tests on the map.

Shizumasa had handed Sarada a small brush and ink. Bolt was about to make a stupid comment, but the girl just sent him a death glare and he didn't say it out loud.

She marked the first test with a small circle. This way, they would always know where they had already been and after some time, they would maybe be able to figure out the different test level areas (if a lot of circles were on a part of the map, it would be a level I area and a lot of X's would mean a Level II area and so on).

They had also been talking about the early morning attack. All three of them agreed, that Tadashi had exactly known, who he was attacking. They were arguing about the reason though: Sarada was dead set on the idea of them just trying to get rid of possibly dangerous enemies as soon as possible. Bolt reminded her, that it had been her who had almost lost to the Kazekages son. She sent him another glare and stopped talking to him for an hour.

Bolt had his own idea, what the reason might have been. He met Tadashi some years ago, when his father had taken him on a diplomatic trip to Sunagakure. The two boys hit it off right away, as boys tend to do. He didn't meet Tadashi's twin sister till the last day. The boy had never talked about her (just like Bolt, he was too concentrated on himself) and the first thing Bolt said to the girl was "man Tadashi! You look so stupid with these pigtails!" He had been laughing until sand started to wrap around him. Bolt panicked and tried to get free, but the more he struggled, the faster the sand tightened around him. Saeko didn't let him go until Tadashi had called for his father. Bolt never spoke with her again. But from what he had heard, she wasn't someone to forgive even such a small thing. Bolt believed Tadashi.

Sarada and Bolt had both turned to Shizumasa, to ask what his thought on the topic was. He shrugged it off. "Why should we care? If we meet hunters like them again, we will just fight them. And if he simply wanted to warn us: We have been warned. What I know for sure is that this idiot knew exactly whom he was attacking. And I hope you will be able to handle him next time," he looked directly at Sarada.

"Next time I will be prepared and not be woken up from the assault," she hissed and jumped ahead.

"She really has a hard time to get going in the morning," Bolt tried to explain, but Shizumasa was already following the girl. The Uzumaki pouted and followed his team.

* * *

Momoka ran.

She had signed up for the chunin exams, not a systematic slaughter. Her teammates, Shura and Lillia, had already been caught by that other strange girl. Momoka stumbled and fell over. She winced and hot tears were streaming down her face.

The ground around her started to move and scattered grains of sand rose around her.

"Oh god please no…" she whispered and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "No no no… this is not real… Not real… I'll count to three and I'll be home again…" she sobbed.

Suddenly, two gentle hands lifted her into the air. Momoka took a deep breath – what was happening now?! She opened her eyes and-

"Hey there Momoka," Inojin held her in his arms. He smiled at her and wiped away a tear "It'll be alright."

"How are you doing this," she looked around, searching for whatever he was holding onto. She spotted a black rope connected to his shadow. A second later, Inojin gently landed on a branch.

"Gosh making me do such a thing…" Shikadai Nara sat on the branch, leaned against the tree. The black rope retracted and transformed back into his shadow. Inojin put down Momoka onto her shaking feet.

"Don't make me laugh. You have hardly done anything. Can you walk?" He quickly grabbed her again. She almost fell down. "It can't hurt you up here. It's only underground."

"Where… where are Shura and Lillia," she managed to ask.

"It's alright… we found them. They are unharmed. I brought them to the first aid spot on the beach," the branch bent a little. Chocho had joined her team.

"Please bring her over there too. They are truly alright?" Inojin helped Momoka walk to Chocho.

"Their bracelets are missing," she answered and took Momokas right hand into hers, "let's get you to them."

But Momoka didn't move. "You look different, Inojin," she stated, "Why is your hair open..?"

Inojin shook his head slightly and smiled at her. It wasn't his usual excusing, simple smile, but a attracting, almost devious grin. He winked. Momoka turned red.

"Please don't tell anybody, that you saw me like this."

"I won't..." and she finally let Chocho escort her to the beach.

Shikadai observed his friend. "If I wouldn't know better, I would be totally creeped out by your behavior…"

"Would you? Haha…"

Inojin smiled again and started tying up his hair, "have you found out why the team from Sunagakure was targeting them? Why their bracelets?"

Shikadai pulled a pink bracelet out of his pocket. It looked like it had been opened by force.

"If you take them off, you are disqualified. But even if so, the points you already gathered stay. But if you hold two bracelets too close together," he held the pink one above his own, "one bracelet collects all the points from the other one. I suppose they are systematically hunting teams down to collect their points. What a drag…"

Inojin pulled one last time on his ponytail and turned to face Shikadai. His innocent smile was back, "a cruel thing to do."

End of Chapter 8

* * *

**_Welcome back!_**

_I hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter!_

_Since it didn't work out with the content, this weeks chapter got the name 'Jungle Beat' and wow.. what a chapter :D I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. The kids can work together - if they want. But well, mostly they don't really want to. I'm trying to give the story a little bit of a dark tint. The first chapters had a sad undertone, but now I want to do the 'Action' tag justice! I never practiced action scenes... were these ok?  
_

_Concerning the 'Romance' tag: I already got asked weather this and that character will end up together and if there will be any romance at all. I plan on making this story a little longer. This is not going to be a 10 chapter wrap up and done, because I like to take my time with it. If I'd write a SasuSaku fanfiction, it also would be a lot easier, because they are already developed to a point, where it's only a question of time until they wrap it up. But I am taking everything from scratch.  
Please be patient with me, you will get a lot of romance over the course of the story - I just won't tell you when and where :D _

_AAAAND! What did you think of this chapter? Did you like it? Did you not like it? There are two important new names in here, are you already curious about them? Tadashi and Saeko? Anybody a thought about Inojin at the end of the chapter?  
_

_Thank you again for your reviews, messages and reading until here! Please let me know what you thought about this chapter!_

_See you next week!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_And another week, another chapter to say: Thank you guys for your feedback!_

_**SoundlessWorld: **Yeah... I don't like him much eighter... I'm sometimes thinking, that he should just shut up. But he makes Sarada and Bot work together better. So... he kind of has his own job to do, even if he is a prik. My favorite new generation kid? Hm... I acutally like them all. Especially the ones that I already developed for the story and most of them probabyl Sarada. But only because I have worked out her whole life in my head already for the story... But going from Kishimotos design? Inojin I'd say :D Thanks a lot for the review :) See you next week!  
_

_**Sasukebiggestfan: **I am happy to hear that you liked it! Thank you :3  
_

_** OnceUponADeduction: **I am honored to get praised like this. Thank you very much. I will go on and give my best! And well the tree challenge... I thought it was rather funny XD A buch of ninjas doing tree puzzles.. XD THX for reviewing and reading the story! It means a lot to me :D**  
**_

_**IamWhatIamBaby:** Somehow I get the feeling, that noboy really likes Shizumasa XD Maybe? Maybe not? It's a chunin exam after all. I would be surprised if everybody'd get out unharmed ;) Concerning Sarada... Teenagers... Moody, stupid teenagers... Thanky you for the review! Please go on reading :3**  
**_


	10. Chapter 09: Newsflash!

Chapter 9: Newsflash!

The sun was shining high in the sky. It was a cold day (it was mid-November), but otherwise it was a very nice day, with no clouds to be seen anywhere. Still, it was too cold to have a blast outside.

On a small neighbor island of the exam one, they had built a huge dome. Beneith they had opened a tropical areal with a pool, palm trees and a hotel. At the pool, they had installed a huge TV. Some people sat around, chilling and watching the sports channel. It was 12 o'clock and the news started.

_"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is Misha and I am going to present you the morning news. The conference of the united nation association has started. Since this morning, 300 government officials are discussing several matters of public interest…"_

"Do you want me to put some sunscreen on your back, Ako?"

Ako took one of her earpieces out, "you have three seconds to tell me what you want. If I decide you woke me for nothing, I will gladly have your head."

A man sat down next to Ako, grinning. The teacher had been laying on a sun lounger, getting tanned – in a bikini.

"The sun is quite strong and I was just asking myself if my favorite student wished for me to help her avoid sunburn?"

Ako blinked a few times in confusion, pondering what was actually going on.

"You have forsaken your life and-" He grabbed her arms faster, than she could push herself up from the lounger. Ako took a deep breath, blinked some more and allowed herself to wake up completely.

"You know I hate it to be woken up from a nap..."she complained. The man helped her get up and handed her a jacket. "Really now?" Ako reluctantly accepted.

Together they walked over to the pool bar and sat down, with a good view onto the big screen. The man ordered two drinks.

Each and everyone around them was a teacher, proctor or otherwise related to the exams. The island had been used for research until it was discovered, how wonderfully quiet it was there. Afterwards, a few investors had started building the dome, hotel and everything you needed to have a life of leisure. Kirigakure had asked for the permission to use the hotel 10 days, to host their guests. And most of them -including Ako- enjoyed their stay to the fullest. Ok, if your team was disqualified, you had to take care of them. But after the first shock, most teams regained their team spirit and were already planning their next steps.

"The report about yesterday should be after the weather forecast," he said and handed Ako a drink. She got comfortable on her chair.

"I'm sorry for them," she looked over to a table with three sad girls, "they had such a great potential. It's a shame they didn't make it to the finals."

"Well, now your team has the better chances."

"Not that I am complaining." She held up her glass and said, "cheers."

"Cheers," he grinned.

"_..And now we will hear the report on the most exciting event of the season! Trisha, how is it going with the Chunin exams?" "Thank you Misha. Well, what can I say_?"

Ako and her companion turned towards the TV.

"_This time, the exams are... Very exciting! Within three days, we already have 30 drop-outs from our previously 59 teams! Small wonder everyone calls Kirigakure's challenge the hardest. The most teams were eliminated right in the first night as I told you. Yesterday, ten teams had to leave the island: Takumi Arashi, Takahashi Mio…__"_

"It's really sad," Ako stated. She sipped on her drink, "those kids gave their best and still... it didn't work out."

"You are very emphatic, aren't you?" He looked at Ako. She had always been like that. Kind of... two faced. She was always cheery and sad, if another person she cared about was. She could be furious, wild, but always with burning passion. He liked her. To him, Ako was one wild animal. And he wanted her to hunt him down. The problem was, that he had been her teacher years ago. Teachers and students usually didn't mix very well. At least, if she still saw a teacher in him.

"Sometimes, I am," Ako grinned at him and took another sip.

_"...let's hope our best for these teams. May they try their best again next year,"_ the announcer smiled into the camera. She had a sparkling smile. _"But now let's continue with the most exciting part of our program: the review of yesterday, the 2nd day of the exams! And what can I say, it was intense. Most level I tests have been done on the 1st day and our remaining candidates have moved further into the jungle. Most of them did level II tests," _the announcer's video frame got smaller and centered. Around it, five different frames, showing the teams while taking the tests, popped up.

_"I picked the five most interesting, funny, intense or romantic challenges for you," _she winked, _"let's start with yesterday's most romantic challenge." _One of the other video frames went full screen. It showed a team from Amegakure on the north-western part of the islands. Their task seemed to be simply finding three items within a certain area on the perforated cliffs. They almost had all three items, when one of the two boys suddenly slipped. He hung on one hand, right over the stormy ocean. If he let go, he wouldn't survive the fall down into the deep, dark waters because it was probably too troubled to walk on or to swim within. In the next scene, he was crying out for help, as his hand slowly lost its grip onto the cliff. The girl in the group was quicker than the other boy and grabbed her friend's hand, but she couldn't hold him for long either: A huge wave crashed over the cliff they hung on. They would have fallen, but the third teammate grabbed the girls feet just in time. Though he didn't look like he was able to hold them up pretty long. _"Setsuna, let go,"_ the boy who had fallen first pleaded, _"Kadaj cannot hold us both up! You are going to die with me if you don't let go!"_ But the girl shook her head. _"I will not let you go,"_ tears ran over her already salty face. Some of it dripped onto her teammate, _"I love you Kisa, I love you and if you are going to die,"_ she hiccupped, _"if you are going to die, I will die with you!" "Setsuna, no!" "Will you shut up?!"_ The boy called Kadaj had thrown a kunai around a huge rock, a rope attached to it and his belt. While he was trying to now pull the others up, they didn't even seem to notice it. The boy named Kisa activated all his strength, pulled himself up and kissed his crying teammate. The announcer was touched.

_"This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen on the chunin exams,"_ she declared and dried her eyes with a tissue paper. Her colleague had a hand on her face, _"I cannot look! Tell me, did they survive?" "Of course they did,"_ she smiled into the camera. In the background they saw the whole team standing on the cliffs again: Kadaj, the boy who pulled his friends up, was leaning against a rock and watched his teammates French kiss each other. He didn't look too pleased. _"And they even finished the task! At the end of the day their score was 17! Not a bad result!"_

_"You said you had some more… moments for us,"_ the first announcer asked. The TV was back to the five frames around the announcers frame. _"Oh yes I do,"_ she smiled, "but you will have to wait until after a short commercial break!"

Ako raised an eyebrow.

"When I took part in the chunin exams, these were still about leadership qualities, fighting skill and teamwork," she wrinkled her nose, "no intense fighting, interesting moments or romance."

"Yeah I know…" the man next to her took a sip from his drink, "the good old times, fighting in the forest of death, no cameras watching you while fighting, no commercial breaks…"

"And no stupid announcers. Really, where did they dig these women out? I bet she gets paid better for smiling like they engraved the grin on her face, than me with all my problems with my lovely team…"

"I'm sorry to tell you but… probably."

Both of them laughed.

In the meantime, a big crowd had assembled in front of the screen. After hearing about the dropouts and the uninteresting "lovey dovey"-moment, everybody wanted to know about the next categories: Interesting meant, the team with the most intelligent strategy; Intense meant a heated battle; and funny was usually the biggest fail of the day.

Five minutes later, the announcer was back on the big screen. The funniest moment was, according to her, how a team got their clothing and equipment stolen by a bunch of monkeys from a level I test (they got disqualified, because the monkeys took their bracelets). On a level IV test though, a team from Kirigakure scored the most intense moment: They fought against and infinite number of invincible island natives. Their goal was it, to steal a bottle full of strength potion from within a cave system in one of the dead volcanos. Chitsuki Hakuba, Kirino Haku and Houzuki Suihi fought bravely – but with great brutality. They slew most of the enemies coming at them without a sign of mercy.

"Seems like Kirigakure still has the most heartless fighters." The man sighed. He ordered another drink.

Ako was focused on the big screen. "It's a shame. They haven't shown anything from my team," she complained.

"Be happy. It means they are keeping low profile." He adjusted his blue scarf.

"But last year… they had most intense AND interesting moment on the first day!" She pouted, messing with her hair, "easy for you to say that, man… your team did it two years ago without even being mentioned once." Ako turned away from the screen. "I don't care about the last moment anymore."

The brown haired man raised his eyebrows, "are you sure?"

"Yes I am and-"but just then she heard her blonde students most annoying voice. Ako cringed and was about to scold him, when she realized, that the voice came from the TV.

_"Are you sure you know what you are doing,"_ an over nervous Bolt looked at Sarada. His skin color was greener than the usual pink, the other two didn't look much better. The girl stood in front of a tree trunk. She studied a piece of paper while looking at the different types of bottles on the trunk. _"Yes, I know what I am doing. Shizumasa, please shut him up." "With pleasure."_ The lordling grabbed Bolt from behind and covered his mouth with one hand, _"keep quiet. It was your idea to try out a level III test. Now live with the consequences."_

The TV team had cut most of the argument out, but Ako was sure that Bolt had an answer for his teammate. The teacher was happy. Finally, she got to see how far her team had come within the last year. The three of them seemed to be caught within trap, filled with poisonous gas. To get away safely, they had to find out within which bottle was the antidote, just with the help of the piece of paper. Trying each bottles content was out of question because it could be anything: water, alcohol or simply an even stronger poison. But Sarada used her brain power and Ako watched her students solve the puzzle all by themselves.

"What an awesome performance," the teacher giggled, "did you hear that? They already got 15 points yesterday. How much do you think it will be after today?" The man simply smiled at her. Together they watched the last minutes of the program.

* * *

_"…and as sad as it is, with this we conclude our report on the second day of the chunin exams. Misha,"_ the second announcer turned to the first, _"thank you for being my partner today. See you tomorrow for our report on today, the third day of the chunin exams!" "Thank you Trisha! See you tomorrow! Thank you for watching our daily special ladies and gentlemen. Please stay tuned for more information on the exams background in our history special 'the united shinobi nations – The hundred years of war and the peace movement part 5'! See you after a short commercial break!"_

Sakura turned off the TV. She was done with most of her patients that day already and had watched the 30 minutes chunin exams special sitting next to her last patient's bed in his hospital room.

"Wow, did you hear that? Seems like Sarada and Bolt got their hands full. And what do you think of the new friend," she checked the boys pulls and medication level, "they seem to be fighting quite a lot. But you know how they are." Sakura smiled and patted the boy on the shoulder.

When the announcer had started the report on his old teammates, his heart rate had gone up and was now cooling down. Hotaru was still dark skinned. His locks had grown within the last year, just as his nails had. But his mother visited regularly. She would cut them for him once a week. Today it had been Sakura's turn, because his parents had gone on a vacation. But Sakura didn't mind.

She checked on him every day anyways and she had wanted to watch the chunin exam special on TV with him. He might be in a coma, she thought, but he still needed someone to talk to him. And he surely wanted to know about his best friends' whereabouts.

"Your condition is a lot better than last week," Sakura stated. She renewed his infusion. A work usually done by the nurses, but she wanted to do it herself today. "I have checked all your stats and don't see why you shouldn't wake up right… now." The pinkette turned her head to the coma patient, but Hotaru didn't even twitch.

"Did you know…?" Sakura pondered, "Did you know that Konohamaru always had a crush on your teacher Ako? Come on that's big news!" But the boy again didn't react. Sakura sighed.

"Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it?" She sat down on the chair next to him again, "you know, your friends need you. When they are not joining forces against your replacement, they fight, fight and fight the whole day. It's even worse than before… Please wake up soon, yes? They really need you…" Sakura groaned and looked out of the window.

The mid November weather showed outside. It was a stormy and pretty cold day. The dark clouds had been hanging around already since three days. Sakura slowly grew sick of the cold wind and rain. And all those red leaves flying around everywhere.

"I kind of envy Sarada for being on an island in the south right now…" she said and patted the unconscious boy on the shoulder, "I see you tomorrow Hotaru. I have to go home. Not that there is anybody waiting. But I fear the storm might get worse the later it gets. And I hate getting wet." She smiled. "Bye bye!"

End of Chapter 9

* * *

**_Hey there guys!_**

_Sorry -again- for the delay. My aunt died last week, my best friends mum and an old family friend... and I just couldn't get myself to finish the chapter... Gomen Nasai..._

_I hoped you liked the chapter! No big action, but I like Ako... I really like Ako. There is so much about her, that you didn't know yet. Her nickname (like Minato was called "the yellow flash") is "the dark phoenix" :D in later chapters, she will have a more active role... And I wanted to write some Sakura again. I never liked her in Naruto, but later on she grew dear to me ;)_

_Long story short, I am already done with the next chapter, so you can expect it to be on time next week! Please leave a comment, review or send me a PM :D I'd love to know what you think!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all for reading this chapter! Thank you for your encouraging reviews and messages! You are awesome! Especially to _  
_**transydney9** and **Thatscool!** I will give my best!_

_**SoundlessWorld: **I did edit it, but I must have missed most of the errors... You are right, I should try to only give you quality content :) I'm sorry - concerining Shizumasa: That's why I created this character! Someone to tie Bolt and Sarada together more closely XD I do like to write him though... And with Gaara's kids: I gave him twins ;) They are the reason he quit his job and it's not like he ist married or something. I thought, if he could become Kazekage AND Sasuke was able to have a child with SAKURA, than it wouldn't be impossible for him to... well, accidents happen, don't they? But you will get the full story later on, in a special maybe? Thank you for your review and your thoughts on the topic! Thank you a lot :)  
_

_**OnceUponADeduction: **Well, I don't know who anymore, but someone said they imagined Inojin more badass... stay tuned, it's going to be awesome with him. Two-face Inojiin... And actually, I stole the name Tadashi from Big Hero 6 :D Though, the characters are completelly different. I loved Baymax's fistbump.. XDD Thank you for the awesome review! Stay tuned for next week :DDD _


	11. Chapter 10: The itsy bitsy Spider

Chapter 10: The itsy bitsy spider

The ground was still wet from the night's rain. Heavy, cold drops had fallen. It was over before the sun rose, but it left everything cold, wet and muddy. Heavy fog covered the jungle's ground. It kept the chill, even when the sun was finally climbing over the horizon. Instead of vanishing, the fog seemed to get thicker by the minute.

Shizumasa stood in the entrance of the cave they had slept in, trying to stay dry. He hadn't slept at all. There was just no sleeping with a snoring Bolt and a sleep talking Sarada. They had set up a genjutsu, so nobody could find them. Also, they would be warned if enemies approached. But Shizumasa couldn't sleep. It was cold, it was wet and he didn't like either. So he just watched the rain, all night long. He sharpened his blade, detangled his hair (his usually beautiful, shining white hair had become dull over the last few days) and refilled their water supplies.

It was finally morning, around 7 am. Probably a little later. The lordling checked the outside one last time. Nothing to see, except for the still thick mist covering everything. He turned around and walked back into the cave some steps. It wasn't a deep cave, maybe five meters. There in the back, were his teammates. He didn't call them comrades. Yes, they had been fighting together like crazy these last three days. He simply couldn't let himself get attached to them.

After the exams he would be leaving, to take up his new post by his eldest brother's side. Shizumasa was the third son of the current daimyo, the baby brother. The fire country's royal family was a troublesome one. Therefore there was no time and space to get attached in any way to these two crazy fellows from the local ninja village.

"You two, get up," the lordling said. He shook Saradas shoulder and gave Bolt a quick kick in the butt, "we need to get going again."

Bolt groaned, quickly grabbed Shizumasa's leg and pulled it away. The lordling landed on his behinds. "Slave driver…" the blonde boy moaned. He simply turned around and pulled his jacket-blanket over his head again. Sarada rubbed her eyes.

"Thank you for the wakeup call…" she yawned, "what are the plans for today?"

"I have already refilled our water supplies. Just outside the cave I found berry bushes and I think I saw a rabbit family. I guess we can refill our food supplies too?"

"You won't touch the cutey bunny family!" When he heard the words 'rabbit' and 'refill supplies', Bolt bolted up into a sitting position. His eyes were still half closed and there was drool on his face. But he already had one hand up, pointing at the white haired boy, "don't ever even think of touching bunnies!"

"You know this is also a survival test, don't you? Jeez…" Shizumasa rolled his eyes.

"He and his little sister once had two bunnies," Sarada explained. She reattached her bag on her belt. "And a bunch of academy students ate them when they were in a survival training session. You could call it Bolt's trauma."

"Hey! Don't tell everybody about me!"

The lordling raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes again.

* * *

They were finally up and ready to go ten minutes later. According to the map, they had rested in a cave at one of the two inactive volcanos. But despite being inactive, it was in no way less dangerous. They walked around the volcano, in search of new tasks to do. Sarada's bracelet showed a glowing '8', Bolt's a '6' and Shizumasa's also '8'. Together they had gathered 22 points already, which was a good number, but not exactly what they needed yet.

It had gotten a lot harder to find doable tests lately. Most of the level I and II tests had already been closed. Level IV tests were too harsh in their opinion – not even speaking of the so called 'kage'-tests. Sarada was sure, the first teams had probably already achieved their goal and all that was left for them, was to hope they had higher points than the following groups. Bolt had asked, if they would be able to pirate their points, by attacking other teams, but his teammates had strictly declined, telling him they couldn't do it because it wasn't proper. In truth, they just believed that Bolt wasn't strong enough.

Shizumasa spotted a test some time later. The first test's start symbol had been an ammonite (green), the second a shark tooth (blue) and the third the sign for yin and yang (white). But this one was a pink lotus, within a circle of bamboo. The teenagers looked at each other.

"Sure that we want to do this," Sarada asked. She didn't feel well. This couldn't be a kage test. The location was too unspectacular. But if it wasn't it could have only been a level IV test. They were barely capable of doing level III tests (given that Bolt shut up and Sarada could concentrate), there was no way they were able to do a level IV in her opinion.

Shizumasa seemed to have similar thoughts. He shook his head. But the blonde dobe didn't listen.

"You are lame! Both of you! You said it yesterday, Sarada: there are no easy tests left and please," Bolt waved his arms around, "we knew this was going to be freaking hardcore! So let's rock it!" With the last word he threw himself onto the glowing engraving. Neither of his teammates could stop him. Of course they tried. But the moment Uzumaki Bolt had something set in his head, only removing the troubling head could stop him from achieving whatever he desired.

As soon as the button was pushed, there was a rumbling sound, like a faraway lighting storm. It growled and the ground slightly shook. Sarada turned towards the volcano they had been circling. She was still wondering whether it was really inactive, when the rumbling stopped.

It was dead silent. The team stood in a small circle, back on back, prepared for whatever was coming.

There was nothing. Shizumasa was the first to notice.

"It's too silent… where are the animal sounds?" He was right. It was just as silent as on the day of their arrival. There was only pure silence – in a jungle.

"Man I don't like this…" Bolt pouted. Suddenly he felt something cold and wet on his right shoulder. "Gosh Shizumasa! Stop drooling on-"

"I'm not drooling on you! What do you-"

"Boys?" Sarada was used to their quarreling, but not to it ending suddenly midsentence. She turned around. Both boys stared at Bolts shoulder. A huge drop of thick fluid was dripping onto him. It was greenish and sticky. All three of them followed the drool with their eyes up into the woods. Another drop slowly sunk down and landed on Bolts shoulder. The boy squeaked in pain and quickly ripped of the shoulder part of his clothing, where the liquid had fallen onto: it revealed burning red skin.

But neither Sarada nor Shizumasa were paying attention. With frightened eyes they watched as the creature above them let another drop fall from its scissor like jaws. Bolt dodged it this time, even though he couldn't take his eyes off the things hairy legs and eight coal black eyes.

It cliqued with its jaws.

* * *

Sarada, Bolt and Shizumasa ran.

They didn't care where to, as long as it was far away from the huge spider following them. They could hear the creature tear down small trees as it rampaged through the jungle to follow them.

Shizumasa drew his sword, "we need to fight it! Now! Or we won't get the points!" Sarada nodded, but Bolt was already in action.

He turned around and shot two hands full of spiked chains at the spider. The thing got caught in them. Bolt pulled on the chains, turning around. His teammates dodged as he twisted the monster around, hitting it against trees forcefully.

The thing didn't move anymore after a few hits and Bolt let it go. It flew some more meters into the woods. The kids didn't let their eyes off the creature.

"Apparently," Bolt fell to his knees and grabbed his burning shoulder, "this… things drool is caustic."

"Be happy it just hit your shoulder," Sarada put a healing hand over the red, chipped of skin and healed it a little, "where did you learn a fancy word like this?"

"Guys, this isn't over!" Shizumasa had taken on his fighting stance, his sword readily in front of his body. And he was right. The spider seemed to have recovered from her short meeting with the trees. It sorted out its legs while observing its prey. "If we put all of our strength together now, we can defeat it!"

Bolt grinned. He let Sarada pull him up. Together they joined Shizumasa.

"You know bastard," the dobe poked Shizumasa, "you sometimes are not as antisocial as you try to be."

"Shut up. Sarada, what's the stich?"

Sarada adjusted her glasses. "Heads up! The enemy: a huge spider! Eight legs, eight eyes; the body consists of three parts: the head –with jaws-, middle part and the huge abdomen (probably a spike)! The drool is an aggressive kind of acid! Do not get to close! Always be on the move, take of the head or cut it in two! Shizumasa," she looked away from the spider, over to her comrades, "you have the best cutting weapon. We will distract the thing from you. Try to get it done in one hit! There is no telling if it's intelligent and adaptable. But I'd rather not know."

Both boys nodded. Sarada and Bolt jumped in front of the spider. It had completely freed itself from the trees and vines, just too readily counter the flying kunai and chains.

While they threw themselves at the monster, Shizumasa changed his fighting stance. He put his sword in front of his face.

"Honjo Masamune…" he whispered, "don't let me down now…" At first nothing happened, but a second later, he felt it. Shizumasas chakra left his hand. It rushed into the metal blade, making it vibrate a little. There was now a blue glow around the sword. Shizumasa tried controlling it.

"The flying swallow… Do you see me, sensei?" He grinned.

Neither Sarada nor Bolt noticed his little achievement. They were too busy defending themselves, while keeping the spider at bay.

"If you don't mind," Bolt screamed behind himself, "to maybe get your butt over here?!" The blonde boy was panting. He scarcely dodged a hit from one of the hairy legs. Sarada pulled him out of the way.

"I'm ready! Bolt, can you pin it down? Make it stop moving?" Shizumasa was aiming.

"Would, I could!"

Bolts face was red and sweaty. He pushed Sarada away. With a swift movement, Bolt drifted around the spider, tangling it in his chains. But the beast remembered. It shot out a bone shaking scream and quickly turned around into the opposite direction. Bolt was pulled with the movement by his own chains, but the monster was quicker. It caught up and trapped Bolt in-between its front legs. He heard the angry cliquing of the fangs, the piercing sound of its screams.

"Bolt! Move!" Sarada tried to slice the legs holding her friend down, but she was hit hard in the face by a third leg. The glasses flew away, together with the girl.

"I would! If I freaking cousaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Bolt!" Sarada was searching for her glasses like wild, but without them there was no way she could see anything. Trees, rocks, the spider and her fighting teammates warped into one colorful picture. All there was, was Bolts heart piercing screaming. "Darn it! Shizumasa!"

And there he was. The white haired boy had jumped high into the air, the glowing sword high above his head. He came down with a huge force and simply split the spider in half. The monsters body juices were splashing around.

Shizumasa avoided them, sheathed his sword and pulled Bolt away from under the dying animal.

"Sarada! Follow me! We need to get away from here!"

"I can't see! Where are my-"

There was one loud crack. Shizumasa had run over to her to help searching and accidently stepped on the red seeing device.

"Fuck," he murmured, picked it up and grabbed Sarada's hand, "come! I'll guide you!"

He pulled her up, threw Bolt over his shoulder and they ran towards the mountain again. Bolt was groaning in pain, his hands covering his face. Sarada tried to see what was up, but it was no use without her- oh right… her glasses… She could feel them in Shizumasa's hand that she was holding. The frame was twisted and the glass broken. He had her hand in a tight grip and there was already blood tickling from them, since the sharp pieces pierced their skin.

* * *

The spider didn't follow them. When they had reached the starting point again, Shizumasa let go of Sarada and put Bolt on the ground.

"See what he has please…" he was breathing harshly.

Sarada crawled over to the blonde color splash in her vision. Up close she could see, that he was covering his face, moaning and cursing. She pulled his hands away.

The acid had hit him directly in the eyes.

"Darn it," she whispered, ripped off a piece of her shirt and started to carefully wipe away the burning salvia. Her friend cried out in pain, tried to push her away, but Shizumasa held his arms down.

"Stop struggling! I have to get it away to help you!" Sarada was sweating.

"But it hurts! It burns! Make it stop!" He struggled like crazy against his friends grip. The girl sat down on his chest to take away most of his leverage.

"There are painkillers in my bag. Give him one of the three clear injections. Into his neck." The lordling simply started to search her bag, while Sarada ripped of another piece of cloth and went on whipping.

"I don't know how to-"but Sarada just took it out of his hand and rammed the syringe right into Bolts neck. The boy stopped struggling right away. He took a deep breath.

"What do you need to heal him," Shizumasa had taken off her medical bag from her hips, ready to answer her commands.

"Fresh water, disinfection paste and bandages-"She stopped midsentence. There was another rustling in the woods around them. Another two spiders, one bigger than the other, slowly made their way to them. They were clicking angrily with their fangs. Probably because Shizumasa had just cut their buddy in half.

The lordling took his fighting stance again and pulled out his sword. But there was no way he could defeat the two of them alone.

"S-s-s-sarada what's up," Bolt asked. He tried to get up, but Sarada pushed him down again. "I can fight" he angrily stated.

"You don't feel the pain because you just got a painkiller injection! And you cannot see!" Sarada stood up in one quick motion. Shizumasa was standing in front of them already. The spiders were baring their fangs at them.

"You don't have any strong attacks, am I right," Bolt grabbed Saradas sleeve, "but I am the brawler! I can do it!"

"You don't even see whether you are looking into my eyes right now or not and my glasses are-"

"We both know, you don't need your glasses." The dobe smiled. It was a wild, daring smile. Sarada sighed.

"We agreed to not use that until the last part of the exam!"

"I don't care! We need to do it now!"

Shizumasa didn't listen to their quarreling. He hit away an attacking spider with his sword, dodged the other and actually managed to cut off one long spider leg. The seven-legged monster took some steps back and hissed. The lordling barely avoided salvia from it.

But while he dodged, the other one got a hold of him. It lifted Shizumasa up into the air and tried to slice of his feed with its scissor fangs. The lordling pulled his legs up, kicked and hit the spider's eyes, but it didn't let go.

"Curse you," he spitted out. It was over. Shizumasa closed his eyes. That was as far as he could go with the two of them blind and hurt. It would end here.

He thought.

There was a loud crack right behind him and somebody yelled:

"RASENGAN!"

A yellow-white ball hit the spider. It let the lordling go – no wonder, its guts were spilling all over ground, after its flying body, leaving a disgusting trail. Shizumasa fell harshly onto the ground. He was puzzled: What was going on?!

"Are you alright?"

Shizumasa looked up. There stood his two comrades. Bolt was shaking. His right hand was still pointing towards the now dead spider. Sarada held it up with her left hand from behind. She had turned around to face Shizumasa. He couldn't see it clearly, but her eyes were glowing bloody red.

"I… I guess I'm ok…" he answered a little weakly.

"Don't worry. We will be done with this in a second."

She turned her eyes onto the last remaining spider, repositioning Bolt and his arm. The beast clicked angrily, probably considering whether it should run or not.

"Bolt, second shot ready?"

"Of course," he grinned and another ball of yellow and white light formed in his hand, "let's got, Sarada!"

And all that Shizumasa could do, was staring at his two comrades: Bolt, blind and shaking, with his father's trademark attack at hand and Sarada, sharingan spinning wildly in her eyes, guiding her friend.

And now, for the first time, Shizumasa realized, who they truly were: Uchiha Sarada, daughter of Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Bolt, son of Uzumaki Naruto. The two most powerful men in the world.

End of Chapter 10

* * *

**_To my dear readers :)_**

_It's been a week! How are you? Did you all spend Valentines day nicely? I know, old stuff but well, some people love it :D I dragged my boy to a carneval party in my hometown though... He was not amused :D  
_

_How did you like this chapter? After the long, boring last one, you finally got som nice action again :D I had fun writing it! I truly love those three in action. You also got a little insight of Shizumasas brain - if that's something that you would want is a differen question, but hey ;)  
_

_While writing the first spider-battle, I was listening to a creepy version of the song "the itsy bitsy spider"... Therefore the title. Even though, THIS spider is in no where as small and cute as the one in the song! It's more an.. Aragog kind of spider.. I wouldn't want to meet it in the dark. Or anywhere.  
But most importantly! Sarada and Bolt! There were so many question if they were able to do it, of not, if they had yet to learn it... well, I won't tell yet where they learned it but: Aren't they freaking badass? XD I got so excited, to finally be able to write about the sharingan and the rasengan in my story *.*_

_Well, lovely people! I really need to get a lot better, so please send me a PM or/and leave a review how you liked it - or didn't like it :D I can handle both! But please: Don't be mean :3 _

**_You are awesome! See you next week!_**

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. For the pros among you, a little riddle: if the ammonite stands for the Uzumaki clan, which families are also represented? Hint: All of them are from Kirigakure and/or the water kingdom!__  
_

_Ammonite (green): Uzumaki_

_Shark tooth (blue): ?_

_Yin/Yang sign (white): ?_

_Lotus in a bamboo circle (pink): ?_

_Leave a review if you got the answer :D_

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you for reading the story and thank you very much for commenting! I will go on and give my best :D_

_**SoundlessWorld: **Thank you and no need to be afraid: the moment I decide to not continue this story, I will leave an official notice here :) But I am having too much fun writing, so there is no way that I could simply abadon it. Concerning the title: It's kind of both. I can tell you this much: Yes, Sarada will have to go and find her papa - literally (?); but it is furtermost an expression for their relationsship developement. Though, she is not the only one who has to improve her connections... Thank you for the review and please: Stay tuned :D _

_**Sasukebiggestfa: **No worries, I will just update as usual ;) A clever question you got there. Depending on what I now write, you could interpret my answer and find out about new developements in the story ;) So no real answer here... BUT: I have always been a SasuSaku shipper and before chapter 700, I always wanted them to have a son AND a daughter ;) Thank you for the review! Stay tuned :D  
_


	12. Chapter 11: Fathers

Chapter 11: Fathers

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Bolt charged forward. Sarada held his right hand in place. With her sharingan, she had the target locked. The thing hissed and tried to snap at them, but Shizumasa was there.

With a quick strike of his sword, he made the spider retreat a couple of steps. Sarada thought he hadn't cut it, but there was a clean cut on its front leg, leaking a clear fluid onto the ground. And right before it was able to charge at them again, Bolt and Sarada reached it.

The rasengan hit the monster. It penetrated its skin and made it fly into the woods. It hissed when it hit the ground, but it was over. The hairy legs twitched a little and finally the spider stopped moving at all.

"Are you alright?" Shizumasa hurried over to his comrades. After the second attack, they had sunk down onto the ground: Sarada held Bolt in her arms, who was shaking like crazy.

"I'm ok but I need to treat him right away," she explained as the white haired boy helped her up. He nodded and together they pulled Bolt onto his feet. The blonde leaned against his friend's shoulders, shaking and shivering.

A small light lit up at the button, which Bolt had pushed to activate the test. It opened and gave a small package free. Sarada picked it up (she had seen the light and came closer to pick up their reward already).

Shizumasa was carrying Bolt, while Sarada lead the way with her sharingan, back to the cave they had started in the morning.

* * *

It was raining in the late afternoon again. The cave was still dry – and empty – so they had easily settled down there. It wasn't like they had no more energy to walk on, but Bolt's condition had gotten worse the minute and there was no time to find another place to stay. Even if that meant, that someone might find them, like it had been the case in the first night.

"How is he," Shizumasa was sitting on the outside of the cave, casting Genjutsu to conceal them, when Sarada came up to him.

The girl sat down next to some wood and started to build a campfire.

"Shouldn't we have a fire next to Bolt," the white haired boy raised an eyebrow.

"He is covered with all our jackets and blankets. And I gave him my… heating pad."

"Heating pad?"

"You know, these small bags which you put into boiling water, the greasy thing inside turns into a fluid and afterwards, when you break a small metal plate inside, it gets warm?" She bent down with a burning match and lit up the wood chips on the bottom of her still cold campfire pile.

"I have no clue what that is…"

"Never mind… but it's much safer than having a sleeping Bolt next to a fire. He would probably just roll straight into it…"

Shizumasa smiled, but didn't respond and Sarada turned her attention back to the small fire in front of her.

It had been a hard day. The fight might not have lasted any longer than an hour, but it had taken them to use all their aces up the sleeve. Sarada had deactivated her bloodline limit now – it used up to much chakra. Shizumasa hadn't asked why she never used it before. Or why Bolt never said that he could use the infamous attack from the hokage. He could have guessed. Since Bolt was Naruto Uzumaki's son, but Shizumasa had never given it any thought.

"Where did you learn that technique?"

The question came out of nowhere.

"What do you mean," the lordling sat down next to Sarada, with a puzzled look on his face.

She smiled. "The flying swallow, of course. I have only seen two people do it in my entire life and-"

"It was so impressive, that you kept it in mind?"

"Well, it's a very dangerous power and since almost no one knows about it, it's even more useful. Just imagine," Sarada hugged her legs and stared into the fire, "if you fight with a kunai and the opponent thinks he just avoided your knife. But a second later… the horror when he discovers, he got cut…"

"I don't have to imagine… I have seen it many times. It throws people into dissray, some stop believing in their own powers, thinking they misjudged you or overestimated their evading skills…"

The lordling drew his sword. 'Honjo Masamune' was slightly glowing in the darkness. It was a beautiful sword with one blunt and one curved cutting side of the blade. The hilt was beautiful: wood, wrapped in red cloth with black shark leather holding it together. The fuchi and the kashira were golden, complementing the red cloth beneath the shark leather. Both were engraved with one symbol: three hazelwort leaves within a circle.

At least that's what Sarada thought. She couldn't really see it, so she asked:

"Is this the Daimyo's sword?"

"Why… yes, it is but-"The lordling seemed puzzled.

"The hazelwort sign… it once belonged to a very powerful family in these lands, hundreds of years ago. No shinobi family though. It is said, that the current ruling family is this particular families descendant, even if they don't share the same name anymore." Sarada warmed her hands on the growing campfire. It was still raining outside.

"My brother gave it to me," Shizumasa cleaned the blade and put it back into the sheet.

"Why would your brother give you one of the ruler's sigils?"

"It's…"

"Complicated? Sorry for the question…"

"No… just a long story. Will you listen?" Sarada nodded, so Shizumasa started his story.

"I was born the youngest child of the current daimyo. I am sixteen, will be seventeen this summer and my father is 79… my mother is his third wife. The lady Shirayuki. She got married to him on the day she became an adult in the eyes of the law."

Sarada frowned. Shizumasa smiled sadly.

"I have two elder brothers and six elder sisters. The eldest, lord Murasaki, is going to be daimyo as soon as my father is dead. He is a strong and cunning man. His destiny was decided, the moment he was born.

He is the son of my father's first wife, lady Soraya of the stone country. She had twin daughters too, but died giving birth to my other brother, Yoroi. He became the high priest of the temple, but is very sickly and cannot do his duty.

After his wife was dead, my father got married to his second wife: princess Saya from the wind country. They got married when the sand village and the fire village made their first treaty. Even before the fourth ninja world war. She gave him four girls before she mysteriously died. People say, that she was assassinated by the daimyo's own guard, consisting only of Konoha ninjas."

"I cannot believe it," Sarada looked alarmed, "why would they-"

"Only my father and Murasaki command them. I suppose they have to obey no matter what their lord tells them to do… Well… After some years, my father got married to my mother. She was the daughter of a high lord from the snow country. Father liked her face and ordered her hand in marriage."

"Ordered?"

"You dare not refuse the wishes of the fire countries daimyo. He is the most powerful man alive: Not only commands he his own guards, but also the whole fire countries armies and the hokage answers to him. If he wanted, he could declare war on anyone and he could win. But… I don't think it was my father's idea to marry my mother… I think it was my brothers but…"

"..But?" Sarada was curious. She didn't like gossip, but if there was one thing she had learned from her father, working in the underground, it was that every 'but' hid valuable information, that might come in handy one day.

"Nothing… Don't mind it. Well, my mother died when I was nine years old. No one knows why, she was just 29 and perfectly healthy. Afterwards my father's guard had to be released from their duty. All twelve of them."

"And why is that?"

The fire was finally warming them. The rain outside had transformed into a storm, but they almost didn't feel it inside the cave. There was enough firewood to keep them warm all-night.

"Please, I want to know," Sarada gave Shizumasa a small smile.

"Sorry... Yes. They exchanged the whole guard because they thought they might have been corrupt or in any other way… you know, they thought the guard killed two of my father's wives after receiving commands from the outside. I was alone after my mother's dead. I didn't care about the guards. All I wanted, was to survive and find out what really happened. Murasaki gave me two choices: Become a priest like my brother, or a part of my father's guard, just that my position would be permanent. In both cases-"

"He wanted you out of the way! He wanted to defuse you… like a bomb!"

"What?" Ok, now she was going crazy.

"You are the second in line to the throne. If you are gone, there is no doubt, that your brother's son will follow him on the throne!"

"Yeah…. Maybe… You are probably watching to much Tv-" Sarada raised her eyebrows and gave him the 'The fuck do you think I am'-look –"I chose the guard," he simply said, "at firsts I trained alone, but after some time, one of the new guard members saw me and decided to train me-"

"Mirai Sarutobi?"

"Do you know her?"

"Of course," Sarada smiled, "she was the student of the hokage's adviser, Shikamaru Nara. These two are the only ones, I have ever seen using the flying swallow. And why are you now participating in these exams? I mean, if you are going to be a guard anyway?"

"My brother said he cannot allow someone without verified powers into the guard. He wants me to pass this test and advance to the level of a jonin. Only then, he will take me in."

"So that's how it is…"

Both of them fell silent again. It was a lot easier to understand the usually antisocial lordling now. And Sarada had thought, that her family situation was complicated. Her brain was already starting to pick up the loose ends, thinking about what might have happened, why Murasaki was like that and stuff. Sarada shook her head violently. She didn't watch too much TV, but simply read too much. Too much about history (the intrigues that lead to the four ninja world wars were simply too interesting), about science (evolution, physics, biology…) and human studies (religion, fantasy …). When she was ten, Sarada had started an essay about the conflict between the common believe on how the moon was created, in contrary to the scientific explanation. The girl simply refused to believe her mother's fairytales about the woman who had eaten a fruit and been imprisoned in a huge stone ball by her own sons – ending with this stone ball becoming the moon. She argued with her mother about it, that it was freaky enough that everybody could use chakra, but that she refused to believe that humans created the moon. Her mother told her, that she had fought this particular woman and even met the guy who was mainly at fault for imprisoning her – hence, creating the moon. And not even her father's silent nod, confirming her mother's story, could change Sarada's mind.

"I admit that you two and the hokage are especially strong shinobi, but I will not believe fairytales like this! There would be no life on earth without the tides! And without the moon, there are no tides! Also, our planet would not steadily circuit the sun like it does now and there are tons of other reasons why your story is bullshit!" Sarada's head was red, but not as red as her moms.

"But it's the truth! And where did you learn all that about the moon?"

"I read it in a book! And it was not in school!" Sarada had then turned on her heels and ran up to her room.

She still had to smile, when she thought about that day.

"Guys..?"

A weak voice from the back of the cave turned their attention around. Bolt had woken up. The Uchiha girl quickly stood up and stumbled over a backpack.

"Darn it… I need freaking glasses… Bolt! Where-"

"Over here!"

The boy could not suppress a huge grin. But Sarada couldn't see it anyway. Trying not to fall, she made her way to the back.

Shizumasa decided to cook some dinner. They still had some fish and outside he spotted some familiar plants: potato plants. He excused himself to get some – and immediately regretted it because the storm was still raging on.

* * *

Bolt hadn't stood up. He was still lying on his back, the same way she had left him.

"How do you feel?" Sarada bend over him and checked the bandages. His shoulder was a little bloody, so she decided to change the bandage there first.

"Like crap… What did you give me back then? That injection? I hope it wasn't some drug?"

"You are quite talkative for someone who feels like crap…" Sarada carefully pulled off the bandage on his shoulder. Bolt winced, a sign that showed, that the effect of the pervious shot had worn off. The skin was still healing, quicker than a usual humans, but it would need some more time. With her help, maybe only until the next morning. It was better with his eyes. Since she had quickly wiped away the acid from them, the damage was not as bad as it could have been.

"Don't move your shoulder too much," she explained to him, "your eyes should be alright tomorrow again. I'll change the bandages too. Don't panic if you cannot see."

"Yeah I'll be alright… woah!" Sarada had taken the bandages off his eyes. The eyelids were still red, some parts of the eyebrows gone – it didn't look pretty. But he slowly opened his eyes, which was a good sign. It didn't hurt anymore.

"So that's how you see without your glasses? All greasy and everything's just huge color blobs?"

"If you say so…" Sarada emptied the insides of her bag in search for some fresh bandages and disinfection paste to put on his shoulder. Bolt was trying to help her, even though he saw worse than she did.

"What's this? Are there more bandages in it? Please, at least look at it. Good luck darling? Sarada what-"

"Give that back! That doesn't concern you!" The girl quickly took the small box back. She tried to hide it, but Bolt was too smart to be fooled.

"That's from your dad, right? Why else should your mother write a note to make you look at it…?" She didn't answer. "Maybe you should really have a look?"

"No, I don't want to," Sarada went back to searching for bandages. The blonde didn't stop though.

"You always tell people, how much you don't care about your dad. But I know you. I know you care. You love your dad. And if it would please you, stop behaving like a child. He just wants to be nice and now goddamn open that box," Bolt got more enraged, the more he said. At least she didn't have to listen to fake promises all day and she knew that her father wouldn't be home for an afternoon training session.

Sarada gave him a quick glance, "ok ok…." And slowly opened the box.

"What is it?" Bolt nudged at her. She slowly looked up, "glasses."

"What?"

"Glasses… its glasses," Sarada took it out of the box and put it onto her nose. It was a blue and black sports glasses. The outer shield was light blue, on the inside were normal glasses inserted, which could be changed. It had a safety plastic and neoprene forehead protector. It was a complete different model than her usual red glasses, but probably more suitable for the exams.

"You look like a cyclist," Bolt grinned, "so… do you see well?"

"Yea," she answered and directly picked up some fresh bandages – now that she could see them.

* * *

Sarada helped Bolt up afterwards. Together they walked up to the front of the cave, where Shizumasa had dinner finally ready. He seemed kind of puzzled, seeing Sarada with glasses again. But he soon smiled.

"Maybe we still got a chance to turn this around," he said.

Bolt and Sarada grinned.

End of Chapter 11

* * *

**_Dearest Readers :D_**

_Here we are again... and this chapter was a pain in the ass... To be true. It's a lot of talking, not much action - so look forward to next week.  
_

_In here, I wanted to give a background to Shizumasa and you got a small insight into the relationship of Bolt and his father. There will be a lot more about them later on. _

_Next week, I will hopefully uploade a double chapter to make up for last week. With these, I will conclude the second exam. And afterwards you will get some special chapters (a Bolt only, a Sarada only and a Sasuke chapter are already planned. Maybe there will also be a Naruto and a Kakashi chapter. Depending ;) )_

_Please tell me, did you like the chapter? Do you have ideas? Any wishes? Thank you for reading and please stay tuned!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_The solutions for last times riddle:_**

_Ammonite (green): Uzumaki (Naruto Uzumaki)  
_

_Shark tooth (blue): Houzuki (Suigetsu and Manetsu Houzuki)  
_

_Yin/Yang sign (white): Kaguya (Kimmimaro Kaguya)  
_

_Lotus in a bamboo circle (pink): Ootsuki (Kaguya Ootsuki)  
_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all for reading and supporting me until here! I will go on and give my best!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld:** No biggi, you got the answers right above ;) Would you hav guessed? The reason she doesn't use the sharingan and Bolt isn't using the rasengan usually is the same. We will come to that later on in the story. And yeah.. really... finally Shizumasa opens up. After three/four days out in the wild he finally figured it might be time to trust these two XDD Ijit... I don't hate spiders and bugs. But I am madly afraid of wasps... Really like... I run away screaming... ^^" Thank you! Please stay tuned :D  
_

_**Guest:** Sorry, there won't be much Sasuke for some time now. But it's not like he isn't around. He is always on Saradas mind and with the small present, even more. But don't worry, there will be an all Sasuke chapter pretty soon! Thank you for the review! Take care and hopefully see you around soon :)_


	13. Chapter 12: Through Fire and Flames

Chapter 12: Through Fire and Flames

It was right before dawn, when the night is the darkest.

The storm had stopped around midnight and now fog was hanging over the jungle like it had one the first day of the second exam. It was cold, even the ground had slightly frozen in the night. The rain water was the same: Trees, rocks and the ground were covered in a shining coat of ice that would probably melt when morning finally came.

Sarada looked up. Not a star in the skies. She couldn't even see the moon. The storm clouds were still hanging over the area. They would be gone soon. But for now, the group used the darkness as a cover to find their way, undetected by anyone else. The girl led the way, the glow of her eyes being dimmed by the blue wind shield of her glasses.

They walked from the smallest volcano, to the sides of the lake in the middle of the island always under the cover of the trees. In the east, they had set their target: The only light source available right now, the active volcano.

* * *

The night before, they had been discussing, what to do. After passing the level IV test, they now had 31 points. Just two points were missing to get them through the second exam. But even if they did get these two points, there was no way to say for sure that they would advance to the next level. There was only one way to be sure.

Their last reward had been a transparent film, fitting onto their map. It showed them all the tests that had been available from the very beginning. It matched mostly with their own marks. It had all the level tests marked, but not only. There were five very individual signs too.

The sign for Iwagakure, was layered above the cliffs in the north-west; the beach wore the crest of Sunagakure; In the middle of the northern jungle was the sign for Kumogakure placed; the fog sign for Kirigakure, right above the lake; and the leave of Konoha, marked the biggest of the three volcanos eastern of the lake.

With this information, it had been pretty clear on what their next move would be. If they passed this one test, they would be save.

The moment Bolt had woken up and declared that he was perfectly fine, they had set out on their journey.

* * *

The group climbed the mountain. The stone was warm, despite the cold night. It was evidence for the great power just beneath their feet. The ground was rambling, slightly shaking. Bolt fell once or twice. His sense of balance was a little damaged and he was stumbling over his feet. Sarada caught him once, but the second time she just rolled her eyes.

At about half of the mountain, they found an entrance to a cave. After one last look at each other, they entered. The cave was one long tunnel. There was no light and they walked steeple down. On the far end of the tunnel, they could see something glowing. At first it was nothing but a glimmer in the dark. But the closer they got, the lighter it became.

Maybe ten minutes of walking steadily downwards, they reached the end of the tunnel. Torches light up the place instead of magma, even though the mountain had been glowing red in the distance. The cave though was hot, the ground wacky. On the far end, they spotted a small stone post. Above it on the wall, had the Konoha crest been engraved.

Sarada thought it was odd. But there was nothing they could have done. She had sweaty hands and her face was slightly red from the heat already. Bolt was the first to reach the stone post.

"This is my father's test. Let's see what we got, shall we?" He picked up a scroll of parchment. It looked like a declaration. His friends came closer too and Bolt began to read to them:

"Competitors! This is your chance to a free ticket straight into the third part of the chunin exams- seriously, dad!" Bolt sighed annoyed.

"Go on," Shizumasa urged him. He just hoped no one else had the same idea as them.

"Yeah… sorry… third part of the chunin exams! This test is going to examine your power, leadership qualities and, especially your teamwork. Once you activated this test, there is no way out, but by victory or death – are you truly sure, that you want to try your luck?" Bolt looked at his friends with huge eyes, imitating his father's most epic pose. But again, his teammates just rolled their eyes. He continued, "if you now have decided to take on this test, here is your task: Unite the toad family. May the will of fire be with you! Signed: Naruto Uzumaki…."

"Unite the what," Sarada walked behind Bolt and read the last sentence, "Unite the toad family? I knew that your father has a thing with frogs… but that he would really… you know…"

"That's the only clue we have?" Shizumasa folded his arms in front of his chest. He had his white hair up in a tight braid, so that he wouldn't burn it accidentally.

"Who cares… let's just start." Bolt threw away the paper. There was another Konoha sign on the stone post where the scroll had been. Like the other times, Bolt placed his hand on the sign and pushed. It sunk in a little, but else, nothing happened.

"Maybe it's stuck…" Bolt nudged at it, but only got the post to wobble a little.

"Get away from there." Sarada made the boys retreat a few steps and pulled up her sleeves, "are you ready?"

The guys nodded. They had no clue what was coming until-

"SHANAROOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With one loud scream, Sarada punched the post. With her superhuman strength, she simply pushed it into the ground.

"Oh my… did you know-"

"Yeah but… but she hasn't used it in long…" The boys were simply astounded.

Right after the post had disappeared into the ground, the whole ground was shaking. The group ran back into the tunnel they had come from, only to see, that the small room they had stood in had disappeared. Shizumasa just saw the last bits and pieces of the former stone ground fall into the hot magma in the depth. The fluid stone light up the insides of the volcano. In the far distance above, they could still see the stars. The insides of the volcano, were rough stone, ledges and different minerals were shining in the red light.

"So…. Unite the toads huh," Sarada looked around. The environment had just gotten a lot more dangerous. And she had almost started to think, they had just said these tests were especially hard, to scare them off. But it was probably true. If they wouldn't be careful, they would simply die in the magma. And Sarada didn't like the idea of dying like this. She adjusted her new sporty glasses and took in a deep breath of the warm air.

"Hey do you see this guys?" Bolt pointed down into the magma. A single, golden statue stood there on solid stone ground, "that's a toad, isn't it?"

"Yeah… and over there is another one," Shizumasa pointed into the air: on the other side of the crater, higher above, they spotted another toad. This one seemed smaller

"It seems like these little statues are all around in the volcano. Let's collect them all in that place down there…. Bolt?" Sarada turned around. The blonde dobe nodded.

He knelt down and shot around ten thick chains from his hands. These crushed into the volcanos opposite side and the small platform where the big toad was placed. When Bolt anchored the chains from his hands into the tunnel walls, they were connecting everything in the volcano. There shouldn't be any more problems getting around.

Bolt jumped onto one chain and slid down to the big toad. It looked like massive gold and was at least 50 cm high. He couldn't move it. How hard he nudged at it and tried to get it off the ground, it didn't even shake. After finding no clues there, he looked around.

On the ground around the toad, he found four small dark spots. It was as if something heavy had stood there, but been taken away.

"Guys! We need at least 4 other toad figurines! They must be around here somewhere!"

"I'll search down there," Shizumasa slid down and landed next to Bolt, "you guys are better with chakra climbing." Bolt nodded.

Sarada was already busy. She had taken the direct route with one of the chains, over to the other side and was climbing the stone wall. It was steep and the wall was slightly hanging over, since the volcano got slimmer to the top. She gritted her teeth. It was already hard to climb a straight wall right up, but this was ridiculous: a hanging over wall, it was hot –so she was sweating like crazy and would slip and fall if she couldn't use chakra. It took her some time, but Sarada managed it to get to the toad.

It was a female toad, seemingly wearing lipstick and an apron. The girl tried to lift it up, but it was too heavy. She tried to push it over, but when the figurine moved just a little bit, Sarada almost fell. She caught herself in the last moment, trying not to look down. She knew what was down there and she knew how it would end, if she would fall…

It took her some minutes, but Sarada actually managed to push the toad onto two chains and downwards. The figurine then rolled down, like on a marble run. Once it had reached the very ground, Shizumasa tried to figure out where to correctly place the toad.

He had just figured it out, when he felt a rumbling. The ground shook a little and with him the statues. The magma had suddenly started to form small waves.

"Guys..? Please be quick! I don't think this test is all about figurines! There is probably a time limit too!"

"Got it!" Bolt answered and pushed another toad down his chain-marble-run. He then jumped to the other side, where Sarada was working on the third golden toad. Together they pushed it down.

Shizumasa had the put the first three toads onto their supposed positions.

"Just one missing," Bolt commented and avoided a splash of magma.

"This is too easy… Time limit, ok. But just putting these figurines down here, is much too-"

"Don't you dare to say it!" Bolt covered Sarada's mouth with his hand, "it's like with a perfect game! You don't spoil it by saying it by its name! And if you say the 'e' word, I'm sure that this test will just turn into the opposite…"

Sarada grabbed his hand and angrily pushed it away, "don't tell me how this works! All I'm saying is, that this is not what a 'kage'-test is supposed to be! Especially not your dad's test! Come on! You expected something different too!"

"Of course but why not take it as it is and-"

"You two! Shut up and lend me a hand! This is serious!"

Bolt and Sarada had gotten into each other's face. She had him by his collar and Bolt was threatening her with his fists. Meanwhile, Shizumasa had walked to the other side of the platform they stood on. He had spotted the last and smallest of the frogs. It kind of suddenly plopped up in the middle of the magma.

He had wanted to say something to his friends to get their help, but just before he could, something huge swam by the golden toad in the magma. All he could see was a black, spiked back with flaming red prongs

"What is it," Sarada left Bolt simply where he was and joined a backing away Shizumasa, "oh there is the last toad! Bolt, could you do a lasso?" The blonde guy grumbled, but let another chain sprout from his hand. Though, just before he could launch it into the magma, a swirl appeared and sucked the toad into the magma again.

"Darn it! What-"

But he didn't even get the chance to finish it, because suddenly something emerged from the magma:

A huge black worm, with red prongs on his back and flaming fins. It screamed an ear scratching scream and some magma drops fell down from it onto the small group.

The kids were astonished. How were they supposed to fight this thing?

Sarada noticed the toad a second later. It was caught within some of the worm's whiskers, it used to intimidate them.

Shizumasa drew his sword, Bolt opened his hand in front of himself and Sarada activated her sharingan.

"Careful it's going to attack," she yelled.

The monster screamed again and dived. The group jumped away and onto the walls, just as it rumbled over the platform and around the toads. It dived again into the magma.

"We need to get higher! Quickly!" Shizumasa jumped onto the chains and tried to run up, back to the tunnel. Bolt and Sarada clung onto the wall.

"We are coming," the blonde dobe shouted.

Just then the worm approached again. It surfaced and went straight after Shizumasa. While doing so, it ripped the chains out of the walls, getting tangled within them. It roared.

"Bolt! Go help Shizumasa, "Sarada yelled and pointed at the white haired boy. He had fallen together with the chains and was now more or less chained to the worm. "I will go after the last toad and put it down!"

"Ay!" Bolt pushed himself off the wall and onto the worm. The thing felt him land on its body and tried to wiggle him off – but Bolt stuck to it like a pimple. It could do anything, as long as it didn't dive again. There was no one who ever survived a bath in hot magma… But that's what Sarada was there for.

She followed Bolt and caught some of the worm's whiskers. Each of them was black and thick like a tree branch. With her strength, Sarada pulled on the whiskers and made the worm rear up. It screamed and howled. Pulling its whiskers seemed to be painful. The thing finally recognized Sarada on its back and tried to shake her of. It wiggled even harder and started to swim in quick round around the platform in the middle of the magma.

Sarada pulled on the whiskers and made it go up a little, to give Bolt time to get Shizumasa.

The white haired boy had finally turned around, from on his back, onto his hands and feet. When Bolt reached him, he was already clinging tightly onto the worms back, while still being held down by the chains.

"Are you ok?" Bolt had to scream over the wild worm roars, "I'm going to dispel the chains in a second! But only if you can grip onto it! Do not fall off!"

"Just get going! We need to put the last figurine down," Shizumasa yelled back and tightened his grip.

Bolt dissolved the chains. It had just been some bits and pieces, but enough to support Shizumasa and slow down the worm. Later one was quick to catch on. The lesser weight on its back was a blessing – though not for the kids.

The thing reared up again, trying to now get the three of them down. It didn't succeed. Bolt and Shizumasa slowly made their way up the back of the monster, towards Sarada. They tried avoiding the hot magma splashing everywhere around them, by walking in the middle of its back.

"Sarada! Keep your pet under control," Bolt screamed at the girl, after it almost dove straight into the fluid stone.

"Oh I'm sorry that I'm no trained worm rider!"

"You should be! Now where is that golden toadie?!"

But Shizumasa already had it. He waited for the perfect moment, jumped of the worms back and onto the platform. There, he sat down the small toad – thank god this one wasn't too heavy. The toad family was complete.

"Congratulations," a loud voice sounded through the volcano, "you just passed my test!" A huge live video had appeared on the wall above the tunnel and Naruto Uzumaki was talking to them. He looked at the scenery in front of him for a second: Shizumasa as the only one on the platform with the golden toads, Sarada trying to control a magma worm and his son, trying not to fall of said worm. The hokage started laughing. "Wahahahahahha you look awesome!"

"Thanks a lot dad! Get us out of here!"

"Oh come on, you can do it yourself," the video hokage winked, "you just passed my test and-"

"Guys my bracelet says 'safe'! Let's get out of here! The ground is shaking again and if you'd ask me: this volcano is about to erupt!" Shizumasa didn't care that the hokage was talking to them. He jumped back onto the worm, just as the magma started to rise. There were bubbles, smoke and the rumbling from before had turned into a loud sound. It was like something huge was breaking apart just that second.

The boys clung onto the worm just behind Sarada.

"Get us out of here," Bolt screamed, panicking.

"Oh shut it bitch!" Sarada pulled harshly on the two whiskers she had in her hands and the worm reared once more.

The huge picture of Naruto was still laughing on the wall, when Sarada directed the worm into the wall, right above the hokage's head. The worm wiggled itself out of the mountain. Once they smelled fresh air, the kids simply left it where it was (a magma worm wouldn't have problems with lava, would it?), just in time before the volcano spit its contents into the morning sky.

End of Chapter 12

* * *

**_Hello again!  
_**

_Dear readers! this is chapter 12! And we are almost done with the exam part 2. I am still working on chapter 13, that's why I'll post it tomorrow or on Saturday - depending, if I like it or not... Simply stay tune :D  
_

_Don't ask me what I thought while writing this chaptere... All I did was listen to some heavy metal (I can recommend 'Dragonfore - Through Fire and Flames' - the namegiving song)_

_I will tell you more with chapter 13, because it will have some big changes for our heroes!_

_See you soon again!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thanks to you all who read the story until here, especially to the ones who are now following or/and have it favourited! You are awesome! Special thanks to the readers who leave a review - I am a person who needs feedback... otherwise I think people don't like my story... Well, here are your answers!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Hey there again :D I don't think that slugs are that bad... I just hate them in my salad... I just love the way you are reading the story. You get most of the time exactly what I want to say, even if I don't write it openly. You read between the lines and that's awesome. Thank you so much. At first Shizumasa was really just ment to be the asshole, that got Bolt and Sarada together again, but he got stuck in my mind and so I gave him a better backgound story (but I developed the background months ago so ;) ) With this the second exam is concluded! Even though I couldn't bring in some of the things that I really wanted to do you soon!_

_**Mithos**: Hey hey! Danke für die Review! Jepp ich bin Deutsche, aber ich finde auf Englisch kann man sich viel besser ausdrücken :D Du hast schon Recht, wenn du sagst, dass Bolt etwas hardcore drauf ist für sein Alter. Aber du darfst nicht vergessen: Die Story basiert auf Naruto - dem Anime in dem die "coolen" Typen die ganze Zeit ins Frauenbad glotzen, sich in Frauen verwandeln und Pornobücher lesen... Bolt ist nicht so und es gibt einen guten Grund warum er sich so benimmt. Das kommt aber in ein paar Kapiteln raus, daher will ich nicht spoilern ;) (Bei der Wortwahl habe ich mich von Freunden in dem Alter inspirieren lassen... Es ist schlimm wie die teilweise reden...) Bitte bleib dran und lies weiter! Ich freue mich über jeden Leser :D Danke!  
_

_**Sasukebiggestfan**: Thanks for the review anyway! Hope you are alright :D Of course I was thinking about making a lemon. But this story is still just rated 'K'. So yes, I would like to, but I will have to find a way to include it, without having to set the rating on 'M'.. Thank you for the review and see you soon!  
_

_**Rdk3**: Thank you for the kind review! It would be natural if he would have taken the design from Obito's glasses. But they wouldn't suit Sarada... google 'cycling glasses' and you will find the type, I thought would suit her :) But you can imagine any type, if you want :) And I can say that much: There will be a parents X kids fight in the future! Thank you again and see you soon!  
_


	14. Chapter 13: The End of the Exam

_This is the second chapter within a week! Please read all previous ones first: Chapter 12 was out on March 19th and Sunday 22nd chapter is the second part! Be careful!_

* * *

Chapter 13: The End of the Exam

Ako was dreaming. She had just gotten her license as a jonin and teacher. In her dream she was smiling brightly. It was the happiest day of her life. She met her group: Bolt, Hotaru and Sarada – and she loved them right from the first moment on. Together they went to the training grounds for the first time, they proved worthy of her teaching and together they were laying on the green grass of a hill, watching the sundown.

Suddenly someone was tugging on her shirt and Ako whipped the hand away, "hush, don't ruin it," she whispered in her dream to whoever tried to distract her from this one perfect moment.

"Someone is knocking on your door," a very familiar voice whispered back, "you need to go and-"

"Leave me be…."

"Ako! You need to go and open the door! I cannot, if they find out I was here the whole night…"

"You are such a pansy, Konohamaru…." Ako was finally opening her eyes. She rubbed them.

"I'm not, but it would be better to not have everyone talk about us all the time," he harshly replied, slipped out of the bed and started searching for his trunks.

Ako pouted, "But I like you naked so much better…"

"Yeah… awesome…" he threw her a t-shirt in the face, "see you later." There were knocks again on the door, so he decided to make an exit through the window. Ako shivered from the cold and quickly closed it behind him, "stupid ninjas…" she grunted, "yeah I'm coming! You don't have to punch in the door!"

"Sorry Ako," it was Hanare, "but your group is back. And they have made it!"

"What are you talking about…? Hanare I'm not yet awake so-"

"The second exam is concluded and your team made it to the third part," the white haired teen smiled bright and gave the not yet awake Ako a huge hug.

"That's… awesome! I'll just get dressed… See ya later!"

* * *

"You guys look terrible."

Ako studied her pupil's faces. All of them looked tired:

Bolts blonde hair had been burned a little bit and he had only scared skin on his right shoulder. Ako brushed the blonde locks out of his face to have a look at his eyes – of course she had seen their fight against the spiders and the magma worm.

"You have improved your healing ability greatly," the teacher looked at Sarada, "he'll just need some time and be as good as new. Now to you, young lady."

While Bolt had made a face, Sarada smiled weakly. She wasn't hurt too bad: just some scratches, one or two small burned spots and her new glasses.

"They suit you," Ako ruffled her hair. "And how is our young lord feeling? Still a cocky brat?"

Shizumasa rolled his eyes and fell onto a chair, "was I ever- never mind… I couldn't have done it without these two."

"I told you, they are awesome, didn't I?"

The room they were in had filled up with people. It was a huge hall and all the groups that had succeeded, either with points or via kage test, had gathered. On a gallery, were all the groups that didn't make it. They and their teachers watched the ones downstairs. Some were crying, others were badly hurt.

But the people downstairs were happy. The Uchiha girl looked around, trying to find out who made it too. She saw not one familiar face, until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hello Haruno! So you made it, too!"

Sarada turned on her heels and faced Chocho. She had a mean grin and her arms crossed in front of her chest. The black haired girl simply rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we made it. What about it," she really wasn't in the mood for Chocho's games. They had just barely made it back to the beach and onto one of the ships, back to the starting point. Bolt's eyes had gotten worse again, after the volcano challenge and he slowed them down pretty much. But thank god they made it.

"Oh nothing… I just wanted to see if you were still alive. I-"

"Children! Line up in front of me" The black haired guy from the very first day on the island was back. Behind him, all the other proctors had already lined up, each of them with a proud expression. Hanare even winked Ako's group.

The moment the groups had lined up, he spoke again, "I congratulate you. You have passed the second part of the chunin exams. I hope you all know, that this still doesn't mean, that you surely will become a chunin? If I got the message correctly, two of you have already forfeit: Yukino Kisa from Amegakure and Tanaka Shiro from Sunagakure have been rendered unable to go on by the doctors. Well," the man grinned and showed his shark like teeth, "this way we don't have to disqualify anyone by doing a lottery."

One of the guys behind him took a step forward and started reading a list:

"In five months, in the middle of April, following participants will be going against each other in a one on one battle. In these battles you will have to prove your worth as a chunin, you will be watched by examinees and thousands of spectators. Qualified to participate in the third part of the chunin exam, in the Unity Arena of the fire kingdom are: Amegakures "Team Bijin": Meijo Setsuna and Kadaj; Sunagakures "Team Suna" with Mori Hattori and Sabakuno Saeko; and Sunagakures "Team Arashi" with Sabakuno Tadashi, Sakeru Izuru and Seido Motozu. The two winning teams from Konohakagure: "Team 3" with Yamanaka Inojin, Nara Shikadai and Akimichi Chocho as also "Team Ako" with Uchiha Sarada, Uzumaki Bolt and Shizumasa. Kirigakure will be participating with "Team Same": Houzuki Suihi, Kirino Haku and Chitsuki Hakuba! Thank you very much."

It was Hanare's turn now, "as already said, the tournament will be continued in the second week of April, next year. Until then, you all are freed from your duties as shinobi of your villages. You are to prepare for the battles with a teacher suited to your abilities. In the last week of March you will receive an official invitation with all needed dates and places. Be punctual and do not miss this chance! You are dismissed!"

Hanare slightly bowed and the proctors left the stage.

"Well, you heard it," Ako smiled at her three favorites, "so, what are you going to do? Shall we go home first? Or do you want to stay a little on this wonderful holiday island? I could use a drink..."

Bolt was about to laugh, but something caught his eye. He didn't see very well yet, but there was no mistaking the familiar brown hair and the blue scarf, that he had spotted somewhere across the hall. The others had started a small fight about how Ako should not make her students drink alcohol, so he could simply slip away.

* * *

Konohamaru ruffled Bolt through his hair, "you did very well, you know." He had a huge smile on his face. The blonde boy mirrored him, "yeah… but only because you helped me out before. Without the rasengan we would have been totally messed up..."

"About that…" the teacher pulled the boy close and out of the room, "your dad is here. And I think he found out WHO taught you."

Bolt frowned, "don't tell me he is mad at you?"

"He is mad at US… because you didn't ask him for help and because I taught you, but he wanted to teach you and-"

"But he never has time," Bolt crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I did ask him for help but all he said was 'later son, I have to sign these documents'. He cannot complain. It's his fault for not having any time for me!" The boy looked angry. Very angry. He had always wanted his father to help him train and everything, but the hokage just never had time for him. He was always busy and when he came back home late in the night, all he wanted was give his children a good night kiss and fall asleep in his wife's arms. Yes, he remembered promising his son to train him, but he never made it home in time. Bolt never openly blamed him. He just simply stopped asking for his help. And one day Konohamaru had found him throwing stones at the hokage monument. From that day on, Bolt had a new teacher – a teacher that actually had time for him.

"Yeah… you know how he is…" Konhamaru sighed, "in any case: he is pretty pissed and I would prefer to not run into him. So I wanted to ask you something: Naruto wants to train you, but I can tell you: he won't do it. He just doesn't have the time and you will probably suck at the third exam-"Bolt was about to protest, that he could very well take care of himself, but the teacher covered his mouth and continued. "So I wanted to offer you my help. Right now, we get your eyes healed and make our way out of here. I told him already that I would take time off from now on and I will focus only on you, Bolt," Konohamaru grinned and removed his hand, "so what do you say?"

Bolt was speechless. The man in front of him, had been his father's first student ever, he was one of the strongest jounin the village had, he was a part time teacher and knew almost every jutsu the hokage had mastered himself. And he wanted to train Bolt for the time until the third exam. The blonde boy smiled bright.

"Of course! Please! This is awesome!" He hugged his teacher tight.

"Wow… awesome… can't… breath….Gosh, thanks for letting go," Konohamaru grinned and they high-fived, "let's get you some medical attention, shall we?"

"Just a second…."

Bolt ran back to his group. They were still arguing about how to handle their victory and hadn't noticed that Bolt had bolted. He grabbed Sarada's arm and pulled her aside.

"Hey what are you-"

"We won't see each other for some time so," the dobe took a deep breath, "I want tell you good luck for your preparations. And… we have been only fighting the last year. About whose fault the thing with Hotaru was and who is stronger and all that stupid, silly stuff." He looked the girl in the eyes, "I know you are strong and I want to fight you in the third exam. Fair and square, to see who is stronger. We can end it, once and for all. Do you agree?" He held out his right hand for her to shake.

Sarada looked at him for a second, puzzled. Then she took his hand in a homie handshake pose and pulled him close.

"Don't disappoint me boy," she said and grinned.

"Let's see who disappoints who," Bolt answered, grinning himself.

He was gone not a second later. The hokage had entered the room and Bolt had fled together with Konohamaru-sensei. Ako just shook her head at the two of them and proceeded to guide her two other students back to the boats, which would bring them to the continent again - after the hokage had congratulated all five (actually six, but Bolt was gone already) succeeding Konoha genin. He gave Sarada a slap on the shoulder and she tried to ignore him.

The way home seemed much shorter than the voyage to the island. Once they had reached the shore, Shizumasa excused himself. He had been expected and a welcome party wanted to guide him back to the capital. He said his farewell to Ako and Sarada. The girls waved him as he left.

Round about 7 days after the conclusion of the second exam, the Konoha graduate's had finally made it back home. It was slightly snowing at the village. Lately, the temperature had dropped completely and some of the snow was already covering the houses. Every time Sarada breathed, a small steam cloud left her mouth, that's how cold it was already at the beginning of December.

Even though it was cold, a crowd of parents was already awaiting them at the village gate and they embraced their kids.

"I'm so proud of you," a red haired, but dark skinned woman hugged Chocho tightly, while her father stood at their side, nodding proudly. Ino rolled her eyes at Karui's reaction and took Inojin in her arms. Shikamaru wanted to congratulate his son too, but he simply put his hands behind his head and muttered something like, "…so troublesome…"

Sarada was looking for her mum, but couldn't find her. She probably had hospital work to do. Suddenly someone hugged her around her stomach.

"Welcome back Sara-chan," a high voice giggled. 'Sara-chan' looked down and found a huge smile midst a mess of black-blue locks. The small girl reached out with her arms and Sarada pulled her up.

"Wow Himawari, have you grown again? I can barely lift you up," she smiled.

"She was really looking forward to see you again," a soft voice said. Himawari's and Bolt's mother Hinata stood next to the two girls. She carefully brushed some hair out of Sarada's face, "I saw your performances at the exam. Thank you for helping Bolt. You were very good."

"They were, weren't they?" Naruto Uzumaki smiled at Sarada. Himawari turned her head, saw her father and reached out for him, "papa! You're home!" He took her from the Uchiha girl and threw her into the air, "yes, papa is back! Are you happy?"

"Himawari is happy!" She giggled and hugged her dad.

"Sarada, your mother has a shift at the hospital today," Hinata gave Sarada the latchkey, "have you seen Bolt? Hasn't he come home with you?"

"Thank you Hinata-san… he said something like we wouldn't see each other for some time… I guess he already started his training. Would you please excuse me," Sarada put the key away, "I need to organize some things. Thank you very much. I hope to see you soon!" She bowed slightly and ran into the village, still with all her baggage.

Naruto gave his wife a kiss, "don't worry about Bolt. I guess he is with Konohamaru…" He looked a little sad.

"I'm sure you will have the chance to teach him a great deal one day," Hinata put a hand on his face and gave him the encouraging smile, that he loved so much.

* * *

Sarada made her way through the snow. She was not dressed for that kind of weather, but she didn't care. Her feet were cold (these ninja sandals were perfect for the summer but the rest of the year, not so much) and she was shivering. Thank god it didn't take her long to reach the house she was looking for. It was the old hokage residence: A three floor house, with a garden. She was about to push the bell, when someone held keys in front of her eyes.

"Hey there Sarada," Hanare Hatake said, "just back from the trip and already on the way to your next one, I guess?" She opened the garden gate with her key and let Sarada in first.

"Yeah… I need to ask your father a favor," the Uchiha girl replied and followed the white haired one to the door. They entered and finally felt warm.

"And you thought taking a shower first was too much to ask for? Oh girly, your priorities are strange… dad must have light-up the fireplace… That smell of burning wood…" Hanare took off her shoes.

"Well who have we here," a tall man had just left the living room. He had the same white hair as Hanare and covered his face with a mask. Sarada spotted small wrinkles around his eyes, "you look exhausted. Do you want a tea, Sarada? Hanare?"

"Oh yes, please dad," Hanare smiled, "I'll just change-"

"Please, could you hear me out for a minute? I have to go home soon, in case that my mum returns."

"What do you need," Kakashi came a little closer.

"Hatake Kakashi, I know this might sound rude, but I want to ask you to be my teacher and help me prepare for the third part of the chunin exams!" Sarada's head was flushed red. She had bowed and almost lost her glasses. She didn't know if the former hokage would accept her as a student and he was the only one she had in mind for the job other than her father and-

"Oh my… why not," Kakashi smiled, "it would be my pleasure."

* * *

Something was beeping in the back of his head. What was that? He felt warm, comfortable, even though his head could lay a little higher. He heard a voice: "…just think about it, if you would…" he knew that voice. It was so familiar. He had heard it almost every day since a long time now… but who was speaking?

There was something bugging him on his right arm. It was small and itchy… It didn't feel right. Again, there was that voice: "…you could tell them how happy that you are and…" Who was 'them'? "…stop fighting for once… since you were gone… they need you."

But I am right here? What was that voice talking about? And that stupid itching! He tried to lift his left arm and scratch it. It took him a while, but he managed. There was a bandaid on his arm – he slowly tore it off.

"Stop that! Hey, can you hear me? I'll take it out in a second," the voice said and someone grabbed his hand, "can you hear me?"

Of course he heard her… He wanted to say something, but his throat was too dry. He blinked a couple of times. His eyes felt like he hadn't used them in ages. It was like waking up from a long dream.

At first, all he saw was a dim light. Then he identified the light as a ceiling lamp. The room was all white. He turned his head to the right, to see what was making his right arm itch: It was a needle under his skin. The next second he caught a glimpse on the person next to him: It was a woman in a red dress and white doctor's coat. Looking closer, he spotted her pink hair.

She smiled.

"Welcome back, Hotaru."

End of Chapter 13

* * *

_**We meet again, so soon!**_

_Wow that was a lot to do this week. Uni just started again and I wanted to post a double chapter... huuuuuh... So, did you like it? The second part is finally over and it'll be spring soon! It's already sunny at my place so, I am already enjoying it :3  
_

_This time I made sure, the rift between Bolt and his dad gets more obvious. They love each other, but because of Naruto's job they lack time for each other. That's the other part of "Finding Papa". Because not only Sarada has daddy issues... Though, Bolt copes with it a lot better than she does. And Konohamaru has seen himself in Bolt (with his grandpa and stuff...), so he is keeping the boy company. Shizumasa on the other hand, is going to be the only one, who will train alone probably. He as passed the second exam, which was important. We won't see him until the third part starts._

_And Sarada is being trained by Kakashi. I was thinking about who she would turn to: If she wanted help with the sharingan, her father would have been first choice - but he is busy. Her mother couldn't help her with that and there was only one other person who had any experience with the sharingan and that's Kakashi Hatake. I think, Kakashi would really like to teach her..._

_And oh yeah! Ako and Konohamaru... hihihihihihihi_

_So what are your thoughts on the chapter? Did you like it? Did you dislike it? Please let me know! _

_The next chapter will be a Sasuke-only one, followed by a surprise and in the beginning of april you will get an extra long easter special (even though, not with easter content ;) ) Stay tuned and see you all again soon!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Since this time there were only three days between the updates, I have only one review to answer. Even though: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! You are awesome! _

_**SoundlessWorld**: Well, what can I say: I wanted to have one big thing before it was over :D To oyour questions: Yes, I have my eyes already set on two new generation kids, that I would like to become medics, with different reasons: The one who could do it best probably (I think) would be Himawari Uzumaki. She is going to be Sakura's direct student in the future... The other one is a boy, but he is not going to be the classic medic, but more of a psychologist, helping with shinobi who have a posttraumatic stress disorder. And jepp, Shizumasa is now respecting them a lot more. Thank god for him or some of the readers would have skinned him alive ;) Yes, I'll keep him, but his role won't be as big anymore. But there is a story arc with him at the center coming up, so stay tuned for more Daimyo-family issues... Muahahaha! I hope you liked this chapter too! See you thursday and have a nice week - thanks for the review :3 Your Usagi_


	15. Chapter 14: A Desert Trip

Chapter 14: A Desert Trip

The wind country's consisted almost completely of desert. Some green spots had been colonized a long time ago and the inhabitants of the sandy country were true survivors. They had learned to utilize whatever small resources the desert gave them, may it be plants, water or animals, and to fight the heat, strong winds as also the nights cold.

Before most of the people settled in small villages, they lived a nomadic life, roaming the sandy area. Northern of the desert, soon the boarders of the earth country could be reached. In warmer ages, the desert expanded even up there, but when the desert slowly retreated, it left the ground bare, with the iconic stone sculptures. To the east of the wind countries desert, the land of fire stretched out. It was a green country: most of it was covered with mixed forest and grass land in the north.

But if a wanderer would happen to survive the desert, going further south, he would reach a subtropical area: The desert abruptly ends and a huge rainforest takes its place. The jungle is a place of life. Thousands of different plants and animals coexist. Orchids bloom on the branches of old oaks, apes fight over bananas and crocodiles populate the deep rivers, swimming between the mangroves roots. At night, big cats would roam the area, hunting for anything eatable. Old ruins were silent witnesses of a lost world, a long forgotten advanced civilization. Why they vanished? No one remembers.

If a person would manage to even survive the deadly beauty of the jungle, they would finally reach the hot grass land of the flame country: Around a huge river, yellowish grasslands and a landscape of soft hills stretched as far as the horizon. In between the hills, smaller rivers made their way towards the ocean. On the taller hills, the people had built their homes. Small villages, surrounded by a city wall of red bricks. Each and every village was built around a high pole. On top of it, an eternal flame was burning.

Outside on the hills, the people were cultivating wine – the country's main trading post. Trade was performed at river stations and the goods were mostly transported on boats over the rivers north, south, east and west. The coasts were beaches all around, some of them stone, some of them white grains of sand. In the very south, the big river crossing the country, split up into thousands of smaller streams, forming a river delta. Even though it was very wet, the ground was not muddy, but polished sand stone. It was there, where the old inhabitants had built their capital: The old city of Rio Thinis.

This town was called the golden city. Built entirely out of sand stone, interspersed with gold particles, it was shining in the warm light of the sun, as also in the cold rays of the moon. It was said, that if the light was right, the city would vanish in the brightness of the light.

The town consisted only of minaret like towers in all height and thickness classes possible. The people were living in these towers, walking on many stories, balconies, crossing over on stone bridges, which were wide enough to have festivals and markets on them, going to different levels by using towers with only a circular staircase within, reaching from the very ground up, high into the sky. Trading goods and visitors would arrive on the bottom, where a small harbor had been built. Heavy luggage would be pulled up with a set of pulleys, onto the destined level.

The rulers of the country was a dynasty of kings and queens, which had their roots at least 500 years ago in the turmoil of village wars. But no one in the country remembered this fact anymore: All the people did, was worship their leaders as gods.

This was all, Sasuke yet knew about the country. He had already reached the southern borders of the wind country. Travelling as a civilian to later infiltrate the flame country, meant that he couldn't run all the way through the countries to the south. He needed to keep his cover as a lonesome traveler.

Six weeks ago, Sasuke had set off in Konoha. He remembered his farewell from Sakura.

* * *

"Be careful," she said as they walked towards the village gates. It was early in the morning, the sun was just peaking over the tree tops, but the village was already humming like a bee's nest. "You are just going there to observe and collect information. Don't get yourself into any unnecessary trouble… please," she looked up to him with worried eyes.

He answered with a small smile, "don't worry. I've had enough trouble for my life." The comment made her laugh a bit.

Nobody seemed to notice them. Other shinobi were running around, already at work, messenger hawks took off and returned, small birds were tapping onto windows to inform the inhabitants of new duties and upcoming work. It was still cold, so Sakura pulled her wool cardigan closer. Sasuke simply put an arm around her. He had to smile again: Sakura was blushing like in old times. Even though she was all grown up now, there were still some old traits in her, which reminded him of their days as genin.

Ten minutes later, they reached the village gates.

"Do you really have to go?" She was still standing by his side, looking outside of the gates, where her husband would disappear soon.

"Hm..." was all he answered.

She turned around, facing him. "You don't need to go… Naruto could simply send another person! We need you here… your daughter needs you… I need you…" She placed her right hand on his face, caressing it carefully. With the other one, Sakura was still holding her cardigan tight.

"Sarada is still mad, right?" She hadn't even said goodbye. The last three days at home had been torture: His daughter didn't say a word when they met to eat and ignored him almost all day, he tried not to anger her anymore and didn't push her (which seemingly made her even angrier) and Sakura was standing helplessly between the two of them.

"She is so sad, Sasuke. She loves you, but every time you leave it breaks her heart a little bit…" and mine too, she added silently, "I don't know how many heartbreaks she'll be able to take in the future… but you know that… I'm sorry…"

"Stop saying that you are sorry. It's me who is never around-"

"And I'm working full time at the hospital! I should be there for her at least."

"Listen," Sasuke put his hand on her shoulder and looked her directly in the eyes, "you are the best mother I ever knew. You manage your own children's hospital, take shifts at the city hospital and you are raising your daughter almost alone. And you are doing a marvelous job."

The pinkette blushed again. She knew all that, but hearing it from the one person she cherished the most, was an entirely different thing.

"There is one last thing," he said and looked around. Nobody except Sakura should hear the next thing, "Shikamaru and I are already working on a concept for after this mission. This will be my last mission away from Konoha probably. Now… please give Sarada my gift. It's something useful. If you really need me, you can always call me back. Take care and," he tapped her on the forehead, "see you soon, Sakura."

He was already out of the gate when she came running after him. Sakura turned him around to give him a deep, heartwarming kiss. She only let go when the gate guards started snickering behind them.

"Take care," she whispered and he was gone.

* * *

Sasuke would never admit it, but thinking about what he had left behind, made him sad. After a very long time of being alone, he finally had a family again (Naruto was a different thing – Naruto simply didn't count. I mean, you wouldn't count someone as family, that you have been trying to kill for 4 years, would you) and he was leaving this family alone. Again. Damn it.

His next stop had been an underground trader. Or rather, an old friend...

* * *

A week after his departure, Sasuke had reached an old cave in the rice country. After entering it, he followed a small path into the mountain. It was one of his old masters hideouts. But since Orochimaru was now working for him, most of his facilities were of no use anymore. These were now slowly decaying. This special one had been turned into an underground trading post though.

"It's been quite some time. You look… old."

Sasuke didn't react. It had always been Kabuto's habit to strain Sasuke's nerves. The white haired man had changed quite a bit since the last war: He had gotten rid of his belly-tail and grown even a bit taller. He wore his now long white locks in a low ponytail. From the color of his skin, Sasuke was pretty sure that he actually never left the insides of the mountain. It was still scaled like a snake's skin.

Kabuto pushed his glasses back up and grinned devilishly, "So what gives me the honor of your presence? I hear you are now the hokage's loyal dog?"

"Hold your tongue. I can get you into jail quicker than you can clean up the mess in the back and everybody will know about your little… experiments."

"And who would you turn to, huh? There is a reason you bailed me out of jail and if I'd go back in-"

"I could simply get someone less talkative. I need your library. Nothing else."

The scientist rolled his eyes, but showed him the way, "if you need anything, the librarian can help you…"

But Sasuke didn't need the librarian. He simply needed a bigger library, than what he had found in Konoha. Because of the conflicts mainly in the upper continent with other ninja villages, the library held detailed information about each country, town, culture… but almost nothing about what was behind the ocean in the east and the desert in the west. The city library of the capital might have held enough information, but going there would be like announcing to the public where he was headed. This was still a secret mission after all.

It took him half a day to gather all his needed information. Sasuke had elected three books. He emptied his bag to take all of them with him. There were his scrolls, maps, weapons, utensils… and a brown package. He hadn't packed this one. It was addressed to no one in particular, but it was in his bag… so it must have been for him? Sasuke carefully opened it. Maybe Sakura had packed him lunch? It must have gone bad already… At least, now he knew why his bag had been so heavy.

But it wasn't lunch. And it wasn't from Sakura:

It was a heavy old book. It was bound in brown leather, with strange inscriptions. Sasuke opened it. The pages were of parchment, long texts were written there, in the same strange language, as the title. There were illustrations, drawn with old colors, almost faded. They showed a landscape with hills and yellowish grass, people working… The book was completely written in Hogo.

A piece of paper fell out of the book. Sasuke picked it up and unfolded it.

_Hey Sasuke, _

_When you read this message, you are already on your way to the flame country. Bolt's father simply tells his family too much and Bolt talks like a waterfall, so don't worry where I got the information from. This book is written in Hogo. It's the flame countries language, you know. _

_On the back of this letter, I wrote you the most important words and how to read them. You are my father and therefore, I'm sure you will be able to decipher all of the book on your journey to the south. _

_I started learning it some years ago, because I wanted to go on holiday with mama there and she said if we were to go on a holiday down there, one of us might as well speak the language… So I bought the book and started deciphering it. I guess mama didn't think I would really do it… (We didn't go on a holiday in the end…)_

_By deciphering it yourself, you will learn the fastest! _

_Good luck! Sarada_

Sasuke was smiling as he read the letter. She couldn't know that he was already quite good at the language. Nonetheless, he packed it together with the book, put the other three away and left the library quickly. There was still one more thing to do. The Uchiha took a turn to the left in the dark cave and gave Kabuto nearly a heart attack.

"Oh my! Watch where you are going! Are you leaving already," Kabuto scratched his chin. Maybe he should shave tomorrow, he thought.

"I found what I needed. Can you just give me quick intel?"

"Oh boy… what do you need?"

"Do you know where the other three are: Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu," Sasuke didn't ask out of concern for his former teammates. But they knew a lot about him and he didn't want to run into any of them and have them on his feet all year again (last time he met Juugo on a mission, the man followed him for three months, until Sasuke left him at a zazen-abbey).

"Well, let me see… The last time I met Suigetsu and Karin, they made a stop here. They were traveling the lands together. The shark was pretty beat up. I guess his last try to gather and master all of the seven mist swordsmen swords didn't go that well. Karin was taking care of him, but they had to make a stop here. I think they were on the way to Amegakure."

"What would they want in Amegakure?"

"How should I know. It's been three years already," Kabuto picked up some knifes and bowls and put them into a sink. The room was where he conducted his experiments, "and concerning Juugo… I guess he is still at the abbey you left him at. Meditating happily ever after."

Sasuke nodded. This was good news. He warned Kabuto to not do anything stupid and was off again.

Kabuto sighed, "You'd think he would ever learn. You can come out," he yelled into his lab. One of the book shelves moved and a woman entered.

Pale white skin, a slender figure, short, messy crimson hair, a long armed lilac hot pants jumpsuit and black glasses.

"You are as good as always," Kabuto complimented her and began washing his instruments, "did you find what you were looking for, Karin?"

The woman grinned a devilish smile, "more than that. This idiot is going exactly where I want him to go." She nipped her glasses and spun around on her high heels, "see ya."

"Do you know what happened to Suigetsu?" Kabuto turned around, still drying one of his knifes. She stopped for a second.

"Let me put it this way: he knew too much." And she was gone.

* * *

Sasuke hadn't noticed her. He had already made his way back onto the trail. He was walking, as any ordinary man did. When he reached the desert, he bought a fresh set of clothes, to fit in with the culture that was awaiting him. Also was his black cloak not good for traveling in the desert. He avoided Sunagakure and went straight for the southern route.

After weeks of traveling he had finally reached the outskirts of the jungle. Night was falling and he decided to have a break. Under some old trees, he made himself comfortable with a small fire. When he had finished dinner, Sasuke pulled out the book again. He had been reading it for the last weeks, studying the southern culture, but he had burned the letter from his daughter. As much as he wanted to keep it, there was just too much information in it. He couldn't let anyone get their hands on it.

All he kept, was a small piece. When he read the letter the first time, he hadn't even noticed it. But sometime after, right before burning it, he saw the small letters in one corner:

_Please be back soon!_

End of Chapter 14

* * *

**_It's thursday again!_**

_An all Sasuke chapter. Well, with some old friends of course. But who want to read a chapter where I describe how Sasuke is swearing because he got sand in his sandals? I don't want to see his feet... really... And yes, Sarada did say good bye.. She just couldn't face her father after everything she had told him. And yes again, she is a very bright child. And she really wanted to go on a holiday with her mum. And now because of the chunin exams, she is going to miss yet another chance to do so.. Oh man that sucks.  
The thing with Sakura: There is another novel coming up. After the story of Kakashi, they are now going to release an all SasuSaku book. The first chapter from the shonen jump preview said that she opened up a childrens hospital, to avoid having Children with a backstory like Naruto and Sasuke. (Seriously, that's been bugging me the whole time: How can any reasonable adult leave children alone like they did with those two? It's a wonder that Naruto turned out the way he did. If you look at the usual numbers, he should have been a psychotic killer - but never mind. It's a manga.. I tend to forget that.)  
_

_Do you like the image of the flame country? It's a wonderful place... but not to live in. Oooooh no. And yes, Karin has finally found a way to make Sasuke and all the rest pay (if you wonder why "finally": reread the christmas special!)_

_How did you like it? Was it alright? Please let me know :D  
Uni has started again at my place, so I am busy again and I don't know if I am able to finish the easter special till next week. It'll be double a usual special, like the first one! So stay tuned, cause if I don't finish it, you will get an all Gaara or Naruto chapter! _

_See you soon!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

_**Review Answers:**_

_Thank you all for reading this story! It makes me very happy! Thanks to all my reviewers! You make my day :3_

_** SoundlessWorld:** Thank you for the wonderful review! I had luck that my mom stayed at home until I was 13, to take care of me and my brothers. And I am very proud that she afterwards studied and is now workig fulltime for a soical organisation. But I can imagine how lonely you must feel, if you parents aren't at home. I'm sorry... The biggest problem with team 7 is, that they are all perfectionists. They are idealistic and would rather do stuff themselves, than let another person do it in a way they don't like or support. They have to choose everyday between what they want to do, need to do and what they should do. And balancing it, is very harsh. Shizumasa's dad is still alive. He is already in his 80's and slowly growing weak, but his humor remains! He was never... a "father" figure to Shizumasa. He grew up with his sisters and the middle brother to keep him company, so he couldn't really relate to his teammates. But he sees their pain. For the story-line time... I cannot really answer that yet... but I wont' do ten years ;) See you next week!_

_** MuffinMan9223**: Yeah... he is kind of... Has he ever had a student? I imagine him being like his dad or a total asshole when training anybody... . I can promise you one thing though: There will be a daddy/daughter moment soon again :D Thank you very much! See you soon :D_

_**bankai777**: It depends on how she developes. I think she and Bolt could have developed both the chains and the byakugan. But only one will be truly usable in the end. Bolt got the chains, because they are really handy... With Himawari? I don't know exactly where to go with her now... so it depends on weather she behaves that way or another! Thank you for the kind review! Stay tuned for updates :3_

_**Rdk3:** Since Sasuke is not really available right now Kakashi has to fill in for him. But maybe afterwards she will be tough enough to get training from her papa? I hope so! And ooooooh when Kakashi is done with her... uuuh yeah ;9 Shits about to get down... Yeah XD Naruto probably thought it was hilarious too XDDD His son not so much though... Thanks for the review and see you soon around :)_


	16. Easter Special 2015

_I know I'm late... but anyway: Happy Easter to everyone who celebrated it and I hope you had an awesome weekend to everyone who doesn't celebrate it :3 Have fun with the (late) special!_

* * *

**Finding Papa - Easter Special: A Journey to the past**

* * *

I wonder

The sun was bright. It shone down to earth, lighting up the forest clearing. It was still cold though and Bolt was shivering like crazy. He had started in the morning, dressed like a snowman, with gloves and a thick coat. But while training he had gotten hot, sweaty. Therefore his teacher allowed him to slowly get rid of the winter garments one by one. Now, in the middle of the day, the boy was finally allowed to have a break. He sat on a tree stump, pondering whether he had done good or not so well.

"Why do you look like you are not happy with the result of your training yet," Konohamaru knelt down in front of his student. He handed the blonde a nice cold drink, "I don't get why you failed last year. I mean, with the level we started training in November, you wouldn't have had any problems." He looked up at Bolt.

The boy avoided his eyes.

"Hey, tell me," Konohamaru raised his eyebrows and added a kind, "please."

"Well…" the boy took a deep breath.

* * *

A lovely Bunch

„Did you make it? Come on! Tell me," a totally hyper young blonde stood in front of his teammates. He held an opened letter in his hands. His teammates just looked at each other.

"What did you think, dobe. If you would pass, we would ace it with 100 points," Sarada grinned and showed him her test result.

It was three days after their written chunin exam. A month ago their teacher Ako had told them, to go on training and studying, because she had applied them for this year's chunin exams. It had been quite a surprise: They hadn't even been genin for a whole year and would be the only ones from their graduation year, to participate. Of course they were honored. But still, they were worried: Bolt had never been good in classes without practical exam. Sarada and Hotaru spent the whole month, teaching their friend how to divide, multiply, measure an angle and how to use Pythagoras' theorem. He managed, but only barely. Good for him, all he needed to do was pass the written exam to be allowed to enter the second stage of the chunin exams: the practical test.

Since the five big nations had joined in the big ninja alliance, they had changed the rules for the chunin exams to some degree. Before, it had been pretty random but now they wanted to do one big test, once a year. The students would take the first test at their home village. Those who passed had to meet two weeks later at the practical exams test site. The second exam would be held at a different village each year, rotating against the clock. It was supposed to be a survival test and the villages tried to surpass each other with hard tests and creativity on what the students had to do. The ones who actually passed, would get time to train for the third exam: one on one combat/KO mode. Those battles would take place at the 'Unity Arena', north-east of Konoha in the fire country (the most central place between the villages). Within this time period, the chunin exams would be advertised like a huge sport event: Other countries had soccer or tennis events, they had the chunin exams. It was possible to buy merchandise, flags, shirts, fake tattoos with the village symbols….

The final part of the exams had always been a big event, but never to that scale. The villages would advertise the whole ordeal like maniacs and the tickets were sold for around 80 000 RYO (approximately 54 EUR or 67 USD) – of course, the families of the participants were provided with free entry. One ticket included entry to the arena and everything around: the markets, visitor spots in the training areas, a hotel and transfer discount… and everything else needed to have a good time at the battle. The festivities usually started a week before the big event and the towns close to the arena were usually booked out months before.

This year, 15 Konoha, 21 Kiri, 12 Kumo, 18 Suna and 9 Iwa participating teams had been admitted to the second part. The smaller countries participating were: Oto (6), Ame (3) and Yuki (3). The 87 participants would meet at Konoha for this year's second exam.

Konoha liked it traditional and the Hokage wanted to see how the younger generation did at the test site, he had had his own first chunin exam: The forest of death.

They had almost two weeks until the second part would begin, so team Ako split up to practice and later reunite the group, to practice their techniques as a team.

There was Uzumaki Bolt, the son of the current Hokage. He was using the Uzumaki family trait technique: chakra chains and had huge energy reserves. Bolt was a quirky kid with a smile carved deeply into his face, but he had never been truly happy. He had been raised by only his mother from his fifth birthday on, following the nomination of his father to the position of the Hokage of Konoha. A lonely life, if you have a three year younger sister, who occupies the mother all the times. Bolt wished for nothing, but for his father to accept him and to be able to protect his mother and sister in his father's steed. He was never at home after all.

Sarada, the girl in the group, was different. She was the daughter of Konohas most celebrated heroin and the most feared villain, which ever emerged from the city. She had mastered the basics of ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu even before entering the ninja academy, but it never seemed enough to her. She wanted to impress her father and absolved the academy as best of her class. She was a very special girl after all. But there were not special traits to her fighting style. Her father had forbidden her to study and master her own blood-limit, which kind of killed her mood. (What she didn't know was, that it only awakened in life threatening situations, in which the user feared to lose his or her precious ones. Sarada's father didn't want her to experience such feelings ever.)

And the third team member? Mori Hotaru. He was a tall, good looking, but quiet guy. His hair was a mess of curly brown locks, his skin had the color of cocoa and the girls loved his deep green eyes. Every time he smiled, he showed the world his perfectly white teeth and it made some of the girls swoon. The boy hadn't been born in Konoha: when Hotaru was just some months old, he had been found in front of the children clinic. After some time at an orphanage, a lovely couple adopted him. Hotaru was very good at all the basics and had learned his father's very own techniques.

The leader of the team? Ako Kajihara. She was a young, headstrong woman with a sense for humor and harmony. From the day on they had met, the team had become her life and there was nothing, she wouldn't do to keep the kids save. Also, she thought it was an honor to be able to teach the Hokage's son, the incredible talented Sarada and their best friend with the exotic flair. Her team was what she cherished most since the beginning of her career.

There couldn't have been a group, working together than them: Hotaru, the protector; Sarada, the planner; Bolt, the brawler; and Ako, the instructor.

"Oh I am so excited," Ako was hugging Bolt. She squeezed him tightly, so that the boy couldn't complain about his lack of air. "You are going to be amazing! And just that you know," she put him back onto the ground, "you dare not to fail! You wouldn't want to disappoint everybody would you?"

"With everybody I mean your parents, friends, family… but furthermost: me! If you fail, it was my fault for not preparing you enough and I will get scolded by your parents and everything will come down to a-"

"Yeah we got it, Sensei. You don't need to get theatrical," Hotaru smiled at her and she stopped posing around.

"We can do it," Sarada assured her. The girl pulled the boys close, to hook herself under (she ignored Bolt's annoyed face), "we are going to ace that test!"

"That's the spirit!"

And no other group was as happy, to have reached the second stage.

Even though it shouldn't end, as they expected it…

* * *

Some days later, all the passing groups had met at the forest of death entrance. Ako's best friend, Hanare Hatake, was giving the kids a welcome speech. She talked about the risks, the danger and how she was hoping they were no cowards. It was her first year as an instructor.

"To pass this test, you have to do something quite simple. The Hokage wanted this all to be exactly like when he was young, so you are off the hook this year. But remember: just because the task is easy, it doesn't mean that the environment is going to give you anything. We have huge monsters running around in the forest, poisonous insects, deadly plants and cute flowers-"

"Hanare stop… you are scaring them," another instructor tried to butt in, but she simply ignored him.

"Your task is, to go and get the other scroll," she held two scrolls up. One had brown ends, the other white, "each team is going to get one of these scrolls and if you want to pass, you need to bring both of them with you to the tower in the middle of the forest. If you can do it within the time limit of three days: you pass. You are not to open the scroll before reaching the tower! Did you understand this? Awesome! Now one of each team shall come forth and get the group a scroll and a starting point. Good luck and don't die on me!"

"Cousin Hanare is as cheery as always, "Bolt grumbled to Sarada, as Hotaru went to the front to grab all the necessary stuff. The girl just shrugged.

"You know that she has always been a very special kind of person. But I like her."

"Yeah… You like everybody who gives you candy… You sure with these glasses? Don't they break easily?"

"If they would, would I wear them?"

"Are you fighting again," Hotaru was back. He put his arms around his two friends, "you are like siblings and I know that siblings fight quite regularly. But if you could do me a favor and work together like you did last year, planning this wonderful prank on the Hokage, I'd be very happy…" He smiled hopefully.

The two others looked at each other. After a second they put their arms around each other too, closing the circle.

"We will work together perfectly-"

"-We will ace the chunin exams-"

"-and never let each other down."

Suddenly someone tugged on Hotaru's shirt. He turned around and faced a cute girl. She held out a piece of paper for him.

"I…I wanted to wish you good luck for… for the exam… You know…" she was stuttering a little bit. Hotaru was a little confused, but took the paper, "uhm… thank you Momoka… what's this?" But the girl had already run off.

The cocoa skinned boy unfolded the paper: "Dear Hotaru, good luck for the exam. This is kind of embarrassing, but would you like to go and collect chestnuts with me some time? We have a lot of them in the garden now… But only if you like! Momoka," Bolt read over his friends shoulder, "don't tell me she still got that crush on you, does she?"

Hotaru was kind of pink around the nose, "I don't know…"

"This must love letter nr. 100, right?"

"And half of them are from Momoka," Bolt was thinking, "how do you do this? I am popular but I never get any love letters? Mind teaching me your secret?"

"Oh there is no secret," Hotaru laughed, "I guess they just like me… I don't know why…"

"I bet I can get more dates than you," Bolt grinned, "I mean, I am the son of the Hokage. That must be worth something with the girls, right?"

Sarada sighed. Bolt was just 13 and already trying to get the best of his situation, using his title as "son of the Hokage" to get free candy, rides or sometimes just the first go. She always scolded him, but because they should work together perfectly tonight, Sarada didn't say a word.

Meanwhile the boys had made their bet: If Bolt was able to go on exactly one date with each of their graduation-years girls (excluding Sarada for obvious reasons) until he had become a chunin, Hotaru would have to teach Bolt his secret, why the girls liked him so much. The dark boy was trying to explain Bolt that he had absolutely no clue what the girls saw in him, but Bolt insisted on it, but started another rant a second later: He was planning to become a chunin at first try – so there would not be much time to go on a date with four different girls… (Except for Sarada, there were Chocho Akimichi, and Momoka's all girls team.)

* * *

Rabbia e Tarantella

At nightfall, all the groups had positioned themselves at the starting point. Ako had given each of her pupils a talisman, to keep them safe and cheer them on. At exactly 7 p.m. the gates into the forest opened and the second exam began. The three of them had entered quickly, but silently. They were experts in hiding themselves and stress situations were their best friends, because in these moments, each of them performed perfectly with the group. No one would stand a chance against them.

Hotaru was the first one to make a move. He activated his favorite ninjutsu with three swift signs, then a very dim light emitted from him and light up all the surroundings for a moment. The light he emitted looked the way sound waves would, if you could see them. After three seconds, Hotaru was done.

"There are three teams close to us. I don't know what kind of scrolls they have, but they are from Iwagakure, Sunagakure and Amegakure. What's the plan," he looked at Sarada. The girl was thinking.

"We know the least about the bunch from Amegakure. Let's start with Sunagakure. I have enough input about them, since we are allied countries…" The boys nodded. Sounded reasonable. "We will do it as following: Hotaru, use your protection walls to capture then within a square. Make sure they cannot flee by digging or jumping high enough-"

"A clean cage, I get it."

"They shouldn't notice it. Your walls are after all almost invisible," she smiled, "the moment we got them… Bolt, how good are you with these chains of yours?"

Bolt made a face. He had just recently discovered this power. He was able to materialize metal chains from his hands and move them. But it wasn't easy: sometimes he would form very strong, but unmoving chains; and on other occasions he could make them do what he wanted, but they would dissolve, the second someone touched them…

"I think I can handle it," there was simply no option other than success to him now.

"Good," Sarada nodded, "the second these guys are in the cube-cage, you capture them with your chains. I will then search for their scroll. If it's heaven, we can just take it and make our way to the tower in the middle, if it's not: we knock them out and go on with the team from Iwagakure, ok?"

Sarada's plans were always the best. The second she knew all the conditions, she simply planned what to do by waging their best options. Of course, most of the time it didn't exactly go as planned. But the boys didn't care. There was always a plan B or C in Sarada's head to be found.

Well, the first step went pretty well. Team Ako was able to sneak upon the enemy team and Hotaru captured them inside a nice protection-shield-square (just that he didn't want to protect them – the square was also very good to lock someone inside). The problem they faced, was that Bolt couldn't control his chains as well in the end. He messed it up, the enemy found them and knocked themselves out by running into the invisible wall of Hotaru's square. Sarada scolded the boy for not telling the truth earlier, while the brown haired boy searched the unconscious enemy's pockets.

"Not the scroll we need, also an earth scroll," she said and showed his teammates the goods.

Sarada shrugged it off and they made their way towards their next prey. Bolt promised that this time, he wouldn't mess up. He wanted to show them, that he was just as reliable as either of them.

The other two groups had already moved though. The closest one, was the Amegakure group now. So they shifted their target.

Sarada was in front, the boys followed closely behind.

"It should be around here," Hotaru whispered as they reached a clearing. But there was nobody. Not even the tiniest bit of evidence that there had ever been anybody. "But they were here… just a sec-"

He jumped down from his branch – not a second too late. Someone had fallen down, out of a tree right above Hotaru's head. He had dodged on instinct, "Bolt! Sarada get down here," he yelled at his teammates, but they had already followed him. Right where they had been a second ago, the three Amegakure ninjas stood now.

"Wow, how surprising that you were able to sense us. Not everybody can do it," the one on the right mocked them, "I guess you are worth a fight, aren't you?"

"You guessed right," Bolt grinned. Yes, that was how he liked it: no sneaking, just simple fighting one on one with a big chance of winning.

The enemy grinned. A second later, Bolt got his fight. Sarada was taking care of a very tall guy, with two umbrellas. She mostly dodged and threw kunai all around the forest. Bolt was about to complain about it, because she sometimes almost hit him, until she pulled on a string, bringing all of the kunai back together, tying the enemy up.

Bolt was up against a tough little fist fighting girl. She tried to punch Bolt, but he avoided her with ease.

"You're punches are too easy to foresee," he laughed, avoiding another punch.

"Oh are they now," she grinned. Bolt ducked away under her fist, leaning back onto his hands and swept the girl off her feet with a single swing of his right leg.

"And you fall too easy…" he wanted to say, but the girl had switched places with the third man, that Hotaru had been fighting. He was a genjutsu user and before Bolt even had the chance to react, the enemy had casted his illusion. A heavy warm feeling suddenly came up in Bolt's head. Why was he even fighting? It was already night, he had eaten his dinner… And he was asleep.

"Really now," Sarada groaned as she hasted over to his sleeping figure, to wake her idiot of a friend.

Hotaru was now up against the little punching girl. She managed to hit him sometimes, even though he tried to dodge. Taijutsu just wasn't his strong point. And now the genjutsu user joined the girl, after he had freed his other comrade – who targeted Sarada.

Bolt was still sleeping peacefully, as the girl got kicked into the next tree.

"Oh come on Bolt," she grunted. There was no time to play the gentle lady now. She threw a kunai directly at the tall guy, to distract him. With a swift movement, she got behind him and knocked him out.

Meanwhile, Hotaru protected himself with a simple barrier. The protection walls, especially the squares, sucked up a lot of chakra, so he couldn't use it too long. The simple barrier was thicker, but didn't use as much chakra. The downside was, that it only protected him on one side. He kept the punching girl at bay, but the genjutsu guy was already trying to cast one on him. But Sarada had a word in.

She gave him a simple poke on the right point on his back. The guy fell over, twitching, but not able to move anymore. She then ran up to Hotaru.

Together they kicked the girls butt like pros. Even though two on one was a bit mean, they had no other choice now. The girl surrendered to them. She showed Hotaru their scroll, while Sarada went back to Bolt. The blonde dobe was really sleeping like a baby.

"Gosh wake up you idiot… That you'd really fall for a genjutsu…"

"Don't wake me kaa-chan… I have done the housework yesterday… I deserve my sleep," he mumbled into the ground.

Sarada carefully put a hand on his shoulder. At first she had wanted to punch him for falling for such a basic trick, but he didn't deserve it after all. But right before she was about to send some chakra into his system, to get him out of his trance, Hotaru screamed.

"Sarada! Watch out!"

It was too late though.

The genjutsu guy had regained his ability to use his hands and feet– a lot quicker than he should have. He had freed his female teammate and was now aiming at Sarada and Bolt.

He threw something.

There was no time to dodge. Sarada shoved Bolts body out of the way and put her hands protective in front of her face. If she was out, it was no big deal. But the boys would kick ass anyway. She was prepared, her eyes closed, ready to be hit with whatever they could hit her but-

Hotaru was there. He stood right in between her and the enemy. The projectile hit his arm.

"Get up Sarada! Get Bolt! We need to get going!" Hotaru ran up to Bolt and finally got the blonde dobe to snap out of the illusion.

"…what's…." he was still blinking, "did I miss something? Hotaru? Hotaru!" Bolt quickly caught the brown haired boy, as he was falling over.

"…my arm's… on fire…" he gasped. The blonde grabbed the arm. There was a small, but empty syringe in his arm. Bolt's eyes widened.

"SARADA! HELP!" He screamed, trying to get Hotaru back on his feet, but it was no use. He went limp and Bolt held him in his arms. It was just then, that Sarada was back.

She pulled out the syringe, stanched the arm quickly above the puncture and pulled him up together with Bolt.

The Amegakure guys were too occupied with themselves to stop them, so the two of them quickly dragged Hotaru away. The boy was sweating like crazy, his eyes closed in pain. While carrying him with Bolt's help, the girl observed him carefully. It didn't take them long to find a hiding spot under some tree roots.

* * *

Carrying You

Bolt set up traps. He was nervous. Very nervous. His best friend got badly injured on their first day and they had a hard time to fight these Amegakure shinobi. Why had they been so strong? Sarada had knocked them out one after another but they just kept coming back again. How had they found them? Sarada's plans never failed… So why did they fail now? There were thousands of questions to be answered….. Bolt went back to his friend's side. Sarada was better with Genjutsu. He wanted to ask her for help.

The girl was sitting next to an unconscious Hotaru. She was shaking all over herself.

"Sarada? Did you get to help him? Would you mind casting a Genjutsu over everything? You know, that they don't hear us and stuff… Sarada what's wrong?" Bolt fell onto his butt next to her. It was just then, that he noticed her frightened face.

"I… I can't help him…" she stuttered, "I tried to but… All I could do, was stop the poison from spreading. But if I cannot do it properly… He won't be able to move his arm anymore…"

"Then do it properly," the blonde answered, "you are the daughter of the most famed medical kunoichi of our time! If you can't do it, who can right now?"

"You don't understand! I tried but-"

"Don't tell me you forgot how to-"

"That's not it, I-"

"Just do something!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Sarada got onto her feet, stomping on the ground. She held her head in between her hands, "SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!"

Bolt didn't answer. He had never seen his friend like this. She rocked back and forth on her feet, trying to calm herself down. The boy didn't understand it.

"Help Hotaru," he whispered, "all you got to do is help Hotaru."

"I… I know…" Sarada took a deep breath, turned around and kneeled back down, "do you have some fresh water? I spilled mine…"

Bolt handed her the bottle. Carefully she mixed it with her chakra and placed the glowing ball of water onto the punctuation. At first nothing happened. Sarada was already shivering again, making herself nervous. Afraid to fail her friend. Who would help him, if not her?

* * *

Fullmoon

"I can imagine, you broke down because of the pressure. You are no official medical ninja and what you were capable of back then, couldn't reach what you can do now, right?"

Sarada was exhausted. She had been training all day. Kakashi had taken her to a hot spring with a teahouse. After all this training, he insisted on her taking a bath and sleeping trough a whole night for once. He always told her:

"You are worse than your parents ever were."

And Sarada would answer, "It seems to me you haven't been spending too much time with them." Kakashi smiled and admitted, that she was right. After all, he never truly trained her mother and only taught her father one ninjutsu.

After dinner, he had found Sarada outside. She was watching the moon from on top of the roof. He sat next to her. For about an hour they didn't say a word to each other. Then, she started telling him about the last exam.

"I guess you saved his life back then," Kakashi scratched his chin under the mask.

"Yes, I saved his life. But the poison had slowed his whole organism down. It took him a whole day to get back onto his feet. And he couldn't use his right arm very well…"

* * *

Revenge is a dish, best served cold

"You think it'll be alright?" Bolt was walking next to Hotaru. The dark haired boy was waving his demolished arm around.

"Oh… I guess I can manage," he flexed his fingers, "doing hand signs might be a little bit harsh, but oh well…" Hotaru grinned, "I'm a big boy. I can do this."

"You are not angry at her?" Bolt nodded towards Sarada. She was walking in front of the boys. After she had managed to save Hotaru, she had an argument with Bolt. He accused her of being useless and loosing focus. And of course, Sarada couldn't let him simply say this. But she knew, how important it was to not get to each other's throats while on a mission – or the chunin exams. So she tried to keep her distance until he had cooled down a little. Sarada always hated his temper.

It wasn't until the next morning, that they met another team with the matching scroll. To release some pressure, Sarada beat the opponents up herself. Her mother's strength allowed her to do so and as one guy tried to run from the angry Uchiha- Forget it, he didn't even get 2 meters away from her.

Bolt was unusually friendly to her afterwards. He had needed the small reminder, that he was just a punching ball for her, if she really wanted to. The girl had their scrolls, Bolt had found the most straight way to the tower and Hotaru tried to not slow them down (he was still stumbling over his feet somewhat).

They had almost reached their destination – still in time and almost unharmed, when someone blocked their way.

"Looks like you can still walk! Assholes," a high voice taunted them. Sarada took her fighting stance, "what do you want? Who are you?"

"Don't you remember me? We are the ones you beat up some days ago," the same voice answered, "I am Meijo Setsuna from Amegakure! Don't tell me you don't remember me!"

Bolt put his hands behind his head, "you are indeed an interesting and memorable person. But I would remember such an ugly name, would I?" He looked bored. The girl went dark red in an instant, "blow them up! Kisa! Kadaj! BLOW THEM UP NOW!"

One of the boys was still trying to hold her back, "Setsuna, we shouldn't be rash! If they have acquired the scroll that we need to pass, we should get it first!" But the other guy didn't think so. With a bored expression he simply stated:

"Jippiyayee bitches."

That was all Sarada cold remember from the next ten minutes. The Amegakure team hand't come to get a new scroll. In fact, they had already lost their own to another team. All they wanted, was revenge for getting beat up on the first day. The Konoha team didn't realize what happened to them, until it was almost over.

The next thing in Saradas mind, was that she got hit again and again. Her face was bloody, she was bruised all over. The other girl –Setsuna- let all her aggressions out on her.

"You little bitch," she screamed, "this will teach you to never get in our way again! Kadaj!" The white haired boy grinned. He pulled up Bolt by his hair. The blonde was unconscious. "Cut his throat," the girl grinned.

"No…" Sarada tried to get up, "you won't hurt… my friends anymore…"

"Oooooh is the little girly trying to save her friends," Setsunas eyes were wide open, as if she was completely crazy now. She grabbed Sarada's collar and turned the girl towards Bolt and Kadaj, "you are going to watch how we kill your friends!"

"No… no…. No!"

Kadaj drew a knife. He pulled up his arm, grinned and-

There was no "and". Right the second before he would slit Bolt's throat, someone grabbed his hand.

It was Sarada.

She didn't look at him, but with the last strength she could muster, she twisted Kadaj's arm around and made him stab himself in the chest. The white haired boy fell. Setsuna stumbled back.

"How did you… Why… You should be-"

"Shut it," Sarada mumbled. She was tired. Very tired. Slowly, her eyes opened. They were glowing red with one spinning tomoe.

"You are… you are an Uchiha… You are THE Uchiha," the other guy of the Amegakure group said in horror. He grabbed the girl's arm, "Setsuna, let's run! We cannot win! She can see anything we do!"

"No! She can foresee all our moves! Let's-"

But Setsuna didn't listen. She was angry, pulled out a kunai and charged forward. Kisa was faster. He had read the mood: It screamed death. Kadaj was back on his feet meanwhile, slowly backing away. So the boy knocked the girl out and withdrew slowly.

Sarada stood in front of Bolt and Hotaru. She wouldn't let these guys get away. Carefully she came closer to the enemy team, but she didn't make it.

If asked later, she could not tell why she didn't notice the explosive tags on the ground. Nor did she know when the other team had placed them. All she knew was, that she stepped onto one. And everything went white.

* * *

Rehab

"I guess, that was when Sarada awakened her Sharingan, right?"

Sakura sat in front of Hotaru. They were in the hospital garden. It was March and Hotaru was trying to get back control over his body. After being in a coma for a year, most of his muscles degenerated. Luckily he would be able regain all his abilities and thanks to Sakura's good care, all that would remind him of the incident, would be a small scared line, where she had to sew on make shift skin. Speaking was still hard though and through the last days he had been practicing by finally telling his best friend's mother, what really happened at the chunin exams.

"Yes…" he answered weakly, "she… saved our life's… back then…" He blinked, trying to get rid of a fly on his lashes. Sakura waved a hand. The fly fled.

"You said, that you were unconscious. Where did you wake up?"

"I woke up… In an underground… dungeon… do you know what… iron maggots…are? Sarada… told… me…"

* * *

The boy and the iron maggot

Bolt opened his eyes. He had dust everywhere and he was badly in pain. But nothing that wouldn't heal. He sat up. It was dark all around him, except for a little bit of light, from the ceiling. When did they get underground? Where were they?

It took him some time, but slowly his eyes adjusted to the light conditions. Next to him, he spotted Hotaru and Sarada.

The dark haired boy was already awake, checking the tunnel they were in.

"I wish there was a jutsu that could generate light," he sighed, turning to Bolt.

"There actually was a blood limit," someone said from the floor. Sarada was rubbing her eyes. Bolt helped her up. "But sadly the light jutsu got lost with the last member of the Mitsu clan many years ago..."

"You really know a lot of unnecessary stuff huh," Bolt pulled her arm around his neck. She had been hit on the leg seemingly. Fresh blood was flowing down and she was shivering. "We need to get to the tower."

"That might be a little problematic now," Hotaru said. He was standing some meters away from his friends, staring into the darkness.

There was a strange sound. Like machines working and like water falling onto a hot stone, vaporizing the second it hit. The sound got closer and closer to them, until they could see what made it.

Sarada was speechless, "that's an iron maggot… why is there an iron maggot under the forest of death?!"

"What is an iron maggot? Sarada?" The boys were just as puzzled as she was. Just that they had never heard of any iron maggots.

"Iron maggots live in ferrous mountains, they melt the stone with their acid and eat the melted stone. Usually they are very shy, but they are intelligent and live long. And since humans have been hunting them for ages, to make medicine form them-"

"-in short they hate humans," Bolt yelled and jumped. The iron maggot let out a bone breaking scream.

It was a huge, white worm. It had no eyes, but two holes on each side of its body, which were used like ears. The maggot was very fast, even though it lived within a dark dungeon with not much space to train its nonexistent feet. The kids ran around it, trying to avoid getting hit by its huge body. The problem was, there was no room to run.

The beast cornered them and started spitting acid at them. The first one to fall to her feet, was Sarada. She had lost too much blood to stand on her own two feet and Bolt needed to avoid the burning liquid.

"Help Hotaru," she yelled at Bolt, "try to bind it with your chains!"

Hotaru had activated his protective shield. He held it up with both hands, while the beast threw its massive body against it. The dark haired boy had a hard time. His left arm was alright, but his already damaged right arm was shivering. He wouldn't be able to hold it much longer.

"Bolt! Open the scrolls! Now," he screamed.

"But we'll be disqualified!" Bolt was trying to manifest his chains, but it didn't work. All his hands did, was shoot out small sparks of chakra. He was drained.

"Just do it!"

That was the moment, the maggot broke through. With one last hit of its thick body, the shield vibrated and vanished with a high pitched tone. Hotaru fell to his knees.

Bolt had already pulled out the scrolls, trying to open them. His hands shivered.

The iron maggot screamed again. It collected its acid in the opening some would call a mouth. It spotted the weakest teammate: The almost unconscious Sarada.

The blonde didn't notice. But Hotaru did. He jumped the second, the maggot shot its acid at the girl.

Bolt looked in horror at his friend. One, two seconds it was deadly silent. Then, Hotaru broke down, screaming in pain. His body was almost completely covered in acid, it was melting away his skin and-

Finally the scrolls were open. In a cloud of smoke one of the proctors arrived. When he saw the scene, he stopped lecturing them about breaking the rules. Instead he called reinforcement.

They rescued the children.

* * *

A broken Friendship

The clock on the wall was ticking. Its steady beat was the only sound in the white room. One side had a huge window front, on the opposite side, a line of chairs decorated the hallway. A huge, glowing sign above a door said "Operating". It had been glowing for hours now.

Bolt and Sarada sat next to the door, which said "Emergency Room". They hadn't spoken a word. Both were bandaged up and Sarada was still receiving blood from a transfusion, but she had refused to stay in a hospital bed, while her friend –that had probably saved her life- was still in danger.

They sat there almost nine hours.

Bolt jumped up, when the door was finally opened. A very exhausted, but smiling Sakura entered the hallway. Both kids looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Don't worry… He'll be alright. I put him in an artificial coma, so that the make shift skin can slowly be replaced by fresh grown skin. He'll be as good as new."

She bent down and took her daughter in her arm. The doctor had been worried about her child, but since Hotaru's case was worse, she had tend to him and left her daughter to her colleagues.

"It's not your fault," Sakura said, "I am sure that you did all you could and how could anybody know that there was an iron maggot digging its way through the forest of death…"

"It wasn't my fault," Sarada mumbled. She pushed her mother slightly away and glared at Bolt, "if you had your powers under control, it would have never come this far."

"Hey! You are the one that simply collapsed!"

"You didn't help him! I was hurt and all you did was stand next to us, shivering and shrieking like the coward you are!"

Both of them had stood up. Sarada quickly pulled out the needle form her arm and raised her fists.

"You are a weak coward," she hissed.

"And you are a stupid bitch that never gets anything right," he replied, with the same intensity.

It was like venom was dripping from their tongues, poisoning the air.

This was the start of one long, harsh year.

End of "Finding Papa - Easter Special: A Journey to the past"

* * *

_Happy (late) Easter!_

_I know... I'm late... but this special was very hard to write. If you are writing yourself, you know that feeling when you know exactly what you want to write, where the story goes, the plotpoints and turns. But then you sit in front of your PC and/or paper and you can't write it down. You simply look at the pc and all you get are stupid one liners... So it came in a little late. But hey: I gave my best for you!_

_So, did you like it? You finally got to see Hotaru in action! He is quite popular with the girls - which is why Bolt trys to pick up all the girls (he needs to win his bet)! It was quite a challenge to write Sarada and Bolt weaker than in the actual timeline (this special is placed exactly one year earlier than chapter 6. I wanted to have a big difference in between them back then and today. _

_The chapter for next week is already done, so if you are lucky you will get a double chapter next week, but I'm not sure yet. It depends on how much I have to do for uni :D But I mixed the Naruto and Gaara special together. It's normal chapter length and is called: "Old friends and Ichiraku Ramen".  
_

_So guys, see you next week! Please tell me, did you like the special? Are there errors? Please leave me a review or send me a pm :D_

_Just one last thing... On April the 29th, there will be a new Naruto series, probably about Bolt and Sarada, leading up to the movie in August... I am quite nervous. I love to write this story and I guess the "real deal" will be completelly different from what I composed. Afterall, I started this fanfiction the day, the last Naruto chapter was release... I hope I will keep on writing, even if it's a lot better than my ideas XD ... that was just something I needed to tell you :)_

_Take care,_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all for reading till here and writing reviews! It cheers me up every time I get an email saying, that I got a new review *.* You are awesome!  
_

**_SoundlessWorld: _**_I'm sure you will like the next chapter, but first: did you like this one? No Naruto or Gaara, but everything revealed, what happened back then... It's sad if parents don't have time for their children.. but if every thing is alright now? I'm sure they love you! I like the way you describe storys as birds... it's a pretty cute thing! Thank you very much for your awesome review! Thank you :D See you soon! __  
_

_**Writing-Fantasy: **Thanks for all the praise :D But I must admit that I never really read any other new generation fanfics... Is it really like that? I cannot imagine a girl with such a grudge on her father forgiving him just like that... after all these years. Sounds like some SasuSaku fanfics where Sakura hates Sasuke until he is back in her life... Yeah I think I get what you mean! I have that one thing: I want to do it perfect and realistic. And what you were describing is not what Sarada is like. She kicks ass. And she is proud XD Well, here you go with Hotaru! Back then I wanted to upload this special, but I didn't manage to finish it sadly... so, do you like Hotaru? He is like the heart of the group and everyone is relying on him, just as he relys on them. They were awesome together... :3 Thank you for the wonderful review! Please stay tuned for more chapters! Till next time!  
_

**_ WanabeeFreak: _**_*.*__ thank you so much! I have only one reason why I write this story (well... maybe two): I want to give my readers a good time. I want to write storys they enjoy, they like, where you cannot stop reading because it simply sucks you in. I hope I can manage to write "Finding Papa" as one of those storys! And don't worry about the SasuSaku part. There will be more of it! Thank you again and I hope to see you soon!_**_  
_**

**_IamWhatIamBaby: _**_W__elcome back! So why is there a gap: The chunin exams are no longer a private thing between the villages. Almost half of the continents population is a fan of the ninja villages (who saved them all) and the exams are now celebrated as sport events (with more casualities). It's a strange thing to do, but that's how it developed. The 5 months break, are the time the sponsors get to advertise the exam. There will be ticket sales, lotteries, merchandise will be handed out... It's like the soccer world cup to Germans or the Super Bowl to Americans. Yes, the chunin exams are a cruel way to test the abilities of future chunin and lots of people get injured, some die. But the people don't really realize this fact... :/ And jepp, Hotaru is back! Jippie! But he won't meet his other teamates for some time I guess. Since they are out training? Also, he is the only one without any family issues at all. He has a loving mother, a concerned father... He is a very kind guy... I like the chracter... So see you after the next chapter? Stay tuned!_**_  
_**

**_Guest: _**_Thank __you very much for the review! Hmmm Let's see where the story leads them? Just imagine Sasuke's and Naruto's faces if they find out their kids had a relationship XD Awesome... Please stay tuned and till next time! THX_


	17. Chapter 15: Old friends Ichiraku Ramen

Chapter 15: Old friends and Ichiraku Ramen

For the first time in months the sun had shone the whole day. Not one cloud was to be seen, the almond trees were almost faded and the children started counting the buds on the cherry trees. In three weeks they were supposed to bloom and everybody was getting ready for the great event.

But first, there was a lot to organize. The chunin exams third part was approaching quickly. The whole village was exited: Some of their most talented genin had finally made it to the finale and half Konoha was celebrating them. Even though, nobody had really seen them in these last months, since their return from the second exam. There had been a big party, but one of the two teams had already departed into training, while the other was taking it easier.

Naruto hadn't seen his son since he had managed to pass his test in the volcano. Each week, Konohamaru would send a letter, telling the Hokage not to worry and stuff. He didn't worry about the two of them. The Hokage was very busy, whereas he barely thought about his son. He was organizing which guards would be sent to help at the unity arena, what parade wagon Konoha would send for the opening ceremony… there was just so much to manage.

Thank god he had help: Sakura organized the medical support teams. In previous years, there had been many injured kids and Sakura refused to let it be organized by anyone else. At first the other organizers (rather the advertising and supporting ones, than the villages' themselves) opposed the idea of one woman in control of all the medics. Thank god that Sakura was very good at underlining her cause, by explaining her plans in detail, before the other applicants were even able to take a breath.

Shikamaru had done a lottery for the post as judges. At first he had extracted a certain number of possible judges, instructed them on their job and made each of them draw a piece of paper from a bag. Of course, all the current Kage would be present, but two more judges were required by each village, to not give any village advantage over the points.

The biggest sponsor of the exams were the same each year. Of course some local restaurants and businesses helped with the funding, but Nisshou TV (the ones who also broadcasted the second exam's midday reports), Taiyoudenki (the wind country's biggest solar power producer) and Kyuuketsuki Juices (the biggest juice producer in the fire country) gave the most money. In exchange, they were allowed to advertise themselves with the exam. The three big companies had their own ticket raffle, while the smaller businesses simply posted a sticker saying "Official Sponsor of the Chunin Exams XXXX" on their doors or windows. Nisshou TV owned the rights to broadcast the midday reports and the live broadcast of all the events of the third exam (including all the parties, celebrity talk, interviews… and of course the battles). The juice company printed "Support the Chunin Exams" onto their packaging. It was also asked of all the officials and candidates to only drink Kyuuketsuki Juice's products while on screen. The solar power producer was probably the only one out of three, that didn't want to boost their own popularity (since they were already the market leader of the wind country's energy market). To promote the use of renewable energies, they had their banner everywhere in the unity arena. It showed the company logo, some solar panels and the new wind turbines, they had planned deep in the desert. (If there were two things the wind country had plenty of, it was probably sun and wind.)

Just this morning, Naruto had been arguing with agents of these three big sponsors. They wanted all the participants of the battles to wear specially designed uniforms with their company logos on them. Naruto argued, that there was already enough advertising in the exam all along and there was no way, that he would allow this. The Hokage was calm. Shikamaru, Shizune and Sakura were helping him. All of them had the same discussion last year with the same companies, but different agents. But this year the companies went one step to far:

They demanded that all signs of the participant's villages, especially the headbands, should be banned from the exam. They argued that these signs were irritating the spectators. It was just then, that Naruto exploded. He shouted at the representatives, telling them to more or less get their asses out of his sight, as long as he could still hold himself back. Sakura tried to stop Naruto, but it was no use.

"This exam is not about your oh so great companies! This exam is about determining which of the current genin is fit to step up and become a chunin! It is about teamwork, leadership and especially: it's about the kids who are going to put their life on the line, to show their potential! So shut your mouths about changing everything! I was ok with having the three of you advertise our products with the exams and even taking over some of the organization! But this is and has always been a competition between the shinobi villages, to brag about their potential and to avoid war! This is no fun competition with children are getting hurt or die for your benefits!"

"But sir, if you would please just-"

"I will not listen! Guys," Naruto barked, "please show our dear gentlemen the door!"

The second Shizune and Sakura had complimented the three agents out of the door, Naruto got up and harshly kicked his chair through the room.

"I can't believe it! What greedy cunts! Have they always been like this and I just didn't' notice?"

Shikamaru sighed. The companies would be pretty pissed and it was his job to later on to rearrange a new meeting with them in private and mend the relationship. Naruto could be a real pain in the ass, but in this particular case, Shikamaru was on his side.

"Don't worry about this. Their demand was inappropriate and insulting. It was not your fault," he tried to calm down the Hokage.

"We have given them too many liberties over the years…"

"Maybe you should call it a day… Take some time off and read your daughter a goodnight story?"

Naruto laughed, "Himawari isn't like that anymore. Surely she would enjoy to spend some time with me… but tonight we are having Hanabi and her daughters over. I need a drink before I go there…" he looked at Shikamaru while gathering all the documents on the table. To keep them save, he always locked them in a safe on the wall, behind the second Hokage's portrait, "would you mind joining me?"

"I would love to, but you know how Temari is," he made a face, "if I'm not home I an hour, she'll surely beat me up when I finally get home."

"I'm sorry," Naruto had never understood why Shikamaru had married the most cruel kunoichi he had ever met. Well, yes they had a very nice dynamic: they were courage and wisdom. Naruto guessed that Shikamaru was happy that way.

* * *

The Hokage left the office alone thirty minutes later. He made his way through the streets. The sun was slowly setting, making everything throw a long shadow. The shopkeepers flicked on the lights. The town of Konoha was very bright and colorful at night. Lanterns in all colors lined the streets, children were rushing home, in the old parts of the town some rickshaws made their way to the old theater, the teahouses and high class restaurants.

But none of these were Naruto's destination. He loved to silently watch the live in Konoha, but none of these attractions actually ever got him closer than 2 meters from their door. The Hokage was headed for the one place that had always been his favorite: Ichiraku ramen.

Finally the sun was gone completely and the bar was almost empty. Naruto brushed back one of the sign cloths.

"Aaaah the Hokage! We are happy to have you. The usual," an old man with grey hair and lots of wrinkles asked.

"Thank you Teuchi. The usual and a glass of sake please," the blonde smiled. He sat down onto a chair. Only now he noticed the other customer. He was a pale skinned, red haired man of his age, with dark circles around his eyes and a scar on his forehead.

"Gaara! What are you doing here?" Naruto was more than puzzled.

The man turned his head slowly and held up his own cup of sake, "I have been waiting for you."

"That is very… nice. But how did you know that I was coming here?"

"I visited Temari and Shikadai today. Not long ago Shikamaru called and said that you might need some company, if he needed to stay in longer." Naruto frowned. Teuchi put down the sake cup in front of him. "I decided to go in his stead and have a nice evening with you," Gaara nudged at Naruto to take his cup and have a toast.

The blonde liked it. He usually didn't have much time to have Ichiraku ramen, sake and a good talk with an old friend. They talked about the chunin exams. Gaara knew, how hard the organization was – even though it was an annual thing now. Teuchi showed them proudly his exam support banner, as also the "Hokage's Nr. 1 favorite Ramen Bar" sign. He was an old man now. But since his daughter had run off with her punk lover (that Teuchi had harshly disagreed with), he had been managing his store alone, without an heir in sight. Of course he knew, that Ayame (his daughter) now had her own ramen shop at the unity arena close to keishi city, but he was too proud to ask her to come home. He was having his third cup strong sake already and sat lamenting on his chair somewhere in the back of his shop.

"Talking about Ayame… Gaara, you never told me about your brats. How are they doing? Tarashi and Sadako, was it?" Naruto was studying his friends face.

"Tadashi and Saeko," he got corrected, "they are doing great. My sister is teaching the boy everything she knows about fan fighting and Saeko is already a genius with the sand…"

"That's why you are here? To check on the boys progress and give the girl time to try herself out?"

"Hm…" Gaara nipped on his cup.

Naruto sighed, "It's a shame that you quit the job… I could use your hand now and then. The sixth Kazekage is a bitch…" The blond emptied his cup. Teuchi was already sound asleep in his chair, so he grabbed the whole bottle from the shelf. He poured them another cup.

"Sorry for letting you down. But I wanted to take time for the twins."

They toasted again. It was getting really late. The shop lamps extinguished one after another. Only the Ichiraku ramen bar was still sending its light into the starry night. And while all the other people were already sound asleep at their houses, Naruto and Gaara were still sharing cups of sake.

"This might be a little…" Naruto put the cup down and rethought what he wanted to say, "no, inappropriate is not the right word… how should I say this-"

"Just ask?" Gaara peered over to his friend's side, his head already hanging low over the counter.

"Who is their mother? I mean, Tarashi and Sadako's mother."

"Tadashi and Saeko," the red head grunted. With help of his hands, he slowly rose up again. Naruto filled his cup.

"Sorry… Tadashi and Saeko then. So tell me, did you marry without notifying us? If yes, I might get a little pissed…"

"No need to. I'm not married."

"Then who-"

"I never knew her name." Gaara shook the cup and watched as the clear beverage swirled around. Naruto on the other hand, was shocked. Well, as shocked as he could be with his level of alcohol. Still, he didn't comment it. With wondering eyes he chugged down the rest of his sake.

The two of them didn't say another word for about ten minutes, just emptying the sake bottle until Naruto broke the silence: "So… do you want to tell me what happened?"

Gaara stared into his cup. It looked like he was fighting himself over, weather he could trust Naruto with this information or not. In the end the alcohol won over his yearlong caution about the origin of his children.

"A fall night 14 years ago, I was very exhausted. We had a lot of trouble within the village and I hadn't had a day off in weeks-"

"Sunagakure has never been truly stable, has it?"

"Sometimes more or less… Kankuro thought that I should take it easy for at least one or two days. He took me to a wellness paradise in the east of the country. We hid our identities. I wore a base cap and he even washed down his make up," Gaara smiled slightly. Naruto had a hard time imagining young adult Gaara with a base cap and burst out laughing. The red head waited until the blonde dobe was done, to continue his story.

"In the evening, we went to a bar. Kankuro showed me how to play billiard, we drank cognac and talked about… stuff. It was late and at some point Kankuro went to the toilet. He hadn't returned after half an hour. I guess he fell asleep somewhere on the way. So I was waiting there, waiting for my brother, when suddenly a young woman approached me. I guess she was younger than me… but not much."

"How do you know?"

Gaara closed his eyes.

"She… I don't know. But what I know is… well… Every time she took a step, it was as graceful as water running down a hill. She had red brown hair, fair skin… dark lips… and she wore this one perfume. She smelled like late blooming flowers after the rain…" he opened his eyes again, "she asked me if I was alone, I told her that I was waiting for my brother. We started talking until the bar closed. I had totally forgotten about Kankuro," he smiled again. Naruto thought, having Gaara smile so much was almost creepy.

"It was late and I didn't want her to go home alone, so I escorted her to her hotel and she asked me, if I wanted to come with her. I don't know why I said yes. I didn't know what was coming. I was unsure. I didn't know anything about anything but she… we were both very drunk, but it was a wonderful night. But when I woke up the next morning, I was only wondering myself why I was in a strange room, not even in my own hotel. So I left before she woke up."

"Why did you do that," Naruto was bewildered. There, Gaara had met a girl he liked for once and he simply ran away?

"I was still drunk somehow. I didn't remember anything. When I found Kankuro, he asked me where I had been. But I couldn't answer him. Later on, everything came back," Gaara faced his friend, "I tried to find her, but I couldn't."

"And now..?"

"Now I know who she was. Her name was Minamoto Asami. Her mother wanted to marry her off to some high lord and she had just met him that day. I kind of... destroyed her mother's wedding plans."

"Minamoto." Naruto was thinking, "wasn't that the family from the north of the fire country? I heard their daughter died eight years ago from some illness? It was quite a thing over here. I went to her funeral because her family is that important."

"… I heard of it too, but didn't give much thought to it… Some weeks later the twins showed up at my doorstep. All they knew about their father was the Kanji scar," he tapped himself on the forehead.

The two men fell silent again. Naruto had never thought that there might have been such a story. Heck, he had never imagined Gaara to even fall in love or have anything at all with a woman. It was a surprise.

They didn't stay long at Ichirakurs afterwards. Together, they closed the shop and helped Teuchi back home. They promised to watch the upcoming exams together as their ways parted.

The lights had already been extinguished. Naruto entered his house silently. Hinata had saved some dinner for him, some of the kids old toys were still laying around. He smiled.

Naruto was home.

End of Chapter 15

* * *

**_Welcome back dear readers!_**

_How are you doing? Did spring finally reach you? At my place, the sun is shinging and I just simply don't feel like cleaning up - even though I should...  
_

_So, how did you like the chapter? What do you think about the chunin exams? It developed into a strange direction... But that's what happens to popular events. I must say, I really do like the way Naruto is as a Hokage: basically the same, but much more mature and strict. _

_Did you like Gaaras background story? I'm trying not to alter too much from the original, but I don't want to have only OC's without any connections to kanon characters. _

_Please tell me what you think! What did you like? What did you not like? Any wishes for the future? _

_Stay tuned for next week and I hope to see you soon!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all very much for reading until here! You are awesome!  
_

_**Rdk3**: Thank you for the review! :3 Yeah I like Hotaru too. He and Bolt work together perfectly. Hotaru is what Bolt wants to be: Brave, strong and kind. "But not as boring sometimes," he would probably say XD Uff... I don't know if there is something between Sarada and him.. I guess Sarada would be too occupied reading books to notice him - probably. Nope, Sarada and Bolt's issues are far from solved. They had a new enemy (Shizumasa), therefore they worked together. But they still kind of blame Hotaru's fate onto each other. They want to solve it in the third part with an official fight between the two of them :D Thank you very much and stay tuned for next week please :D  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Thank you! Yes I was checking "how did I write the Christmas special again" and copied the whole titel - including the year XD THX And yes, the acid spilled completelly onto him. Usually he should have been dissolved within minutes. But there was help right away and Sakura is pretty good as a medic: Replacing the skin and healing his organs wasn't the problem. But reconnecting the nerves and chakra veins was. When Naruto first used his Rasen Shuriken, it destroyed some of his chakra veins. Sakura took the knowledge from back then, developed it further and used it on Hotaru. The poison from the Amegakure nin only slowed him down. As soon as it was out of the boys body, he would have regenerated quickly. Still, Sakura said that the boy would be alright, but she didn't know that he would stay in a coma for almost a year. She cannot say anymore, that he is completelly going to regenerate... Hotaru is Bolt's best buddy. He is more mature, better liked by the girls and does less stupid things XD To Bolt, he is kind of an idol. Even though, that should have changed in the last year. Thank you very much for the review! I hope to see you again next week, take care and I wish you a pleasant spring :3  
_

_**Writing-Fantasy**: If I can fascinate my readers like that, I am really happy :D This was a truly awesome review! XD Yeah I think the same about Sarada... but still... have a look at the spoiler section below T.T It really kills me what Kishimoto has done. Hmmm a picture of Hotaru? I will try :D If I cannot find one, I might as well draw him myself. I'd put it up on Twitter, ok? Yeah I am the same :D Just that the stories I like haven't been updated in ages T.T sadly... Well, how did you like the new chapter? Not as much action as the last special, but hey ;) THX and I hope to see you soon!  
_

_**Guest**: Thank you very much! I will give my best and write you a story you will love! Thank you and see you next week!  
_


	18. Chapter 16: Keishi City

Chapter 16: Keishi City

The north of the fire country was covered with forest. Around some former holy structures, the people had erected their cities. The capital, had been built around a holy tree which was seen as a memento from the bunny princess Kaguya. Kaguya herself was a mystical being. She was worshiped since generations as the mother of mankind and bringer of life.

If Sarada believed her mother, the actual person Kaguya, had been quite a bitch. When the girl had asked her mother how they had won the fourth ninja world war, she had been told a lot about strategy, sacrifice and "this truly horrible woman that almost killed your father! I have fought many enemies in my life but never someone with less ethics than her! 'I want my chakra back! Chakra is mine only!' Really… such an asshole!" Sarada was quite surprised to hear her mother swear so much. Usually she didn't. But this particular woman must have truly been a bad person with even worse intentions – if she even existed. That's why Sakura refused to go to the holy tree with Sarada, to pray for good fortune in the third part of the chunin exams.

One week before the start, the pinkette had picked her daughter up at her training grounds and taken her to the capital. From there on, it would be only a one hour long train ride to the unity arena. This way they were able to spend some quality time together, before both of them got completely busy. Sakura with the medical organization and Sarada didn't plan on failing the first round. She wanted to make it to the top, maybe even fight Bolt on the way to the top. It hadn't been announced who'd be fighting who in the first round yet. Therefore Sarada had no clue where they would meet. Only, the fact that they would fight was clear to her.

There were so many feelings that they wanted to put into this fight, to finally settle all the problems they had in the last year. After what happened to Hotaru, their friendship had been broken. While they had treated each other as siblings before, they were now hating each other (more or less). Even though, the second exam had gotten them closer again. But this time, in another way. Less as siblings. More like mutual respecting friends. And with their fight in the third exam, finally all the hostilities were to be thrown overboard. Afterwards everything would be alright… Would it?

Sarada hoped so. And Bolt did too. They hadn't seen each other since the second exam. Since their promise.

Sakura on the other hand, hadn't told Sarada about Hotaru. The boy was still regenerating from his long sleep and he didn't want his friends to see him in a state like this.

"I want to… make it a surprise. I know they will win and the second they do… I will be there to… con-con… darn it… congratulate them," he uttered, while trying to take some steps forward. While walking, he had grabbed a wooden beam, to not fall over. Usually Sakura would have never allowed him to already get out of his wheelchair. But the boy wanted to meet his friends again, standing on both of his feet. To show them, that everything was ok. He hadn't been happy when he heard from Ako how the two of them had behaved the last year. The teacher had helped Hotaru the last months. Her team was out, training with other teachers (not that she felt bad, that neither of them had chosen her), therefore she had free time.

Ako helped Hotaru catch up with everything that had happened in the last year. They talked about his recovering plans, Sakura helped them develop a schedule, they went to physiotherapy… The boy had all the help he could wish for. Still, his parents had been hesitant about allowing him to watch the chunin exams. They wanted their boy to be save and watching the chunin exams might not be save (not in terms of body, but mind).

But Sakura assured them, that there was nothing to worry about. She had received two tickets for the two weeklong event and since Sasuke was on his mission, the doctor had offered it to Hotaru, promising to take good care of him these two weeks.

* * *

"He isn't coming, right," Sarada turned around to her mother. Sakura had just looked at a cute shirt and wanted to ask her daughter for her opinion, but was stopped by the question.

"I guess not..? I mean… he said it would take him at least one year to finish his new mission."

"Oh, ok." Sarada blinked sometimes and adjusted her glasses. She was angry at her father, distant - but he was still her dad. Just this morning Bolt had been running around with his father: the blonde dobe had also come back a little early and his father had taken the time to play around with him, trying to figure out how Bolt had developed. They were playing their favorite game: Hide and Seek.

Sarada had gone shopping with her mother. The shops in the capital had a so much bigger selection of clothes, shoes, jewelry, weapons and food. And her mother would pay for everything. Right now they were searching for a new fighting outfit. She had ripped up her last good one in the second exam to help Bolt, therefore she refused to stand in the unity arena in her yoga pants and her XXL sleeping shirt, which she had always worn to training with the sixth Hokage. Thank god her mother had at least gotten her some normal red glasses again.

Her mother had agreed and promised to sow on their family sign afterwards – a thing that made them argue, which family crest it should be. Sarada didn't want to wear the Uchiha fan on her back. Her old fighting garments had them, but she wished for her mother's clean white circle. That was how they got to the "father" topic.

Sakura sighed, "He wants to be there, and you know it. And if he could, he would."

"All of the others are here with their whole families…" the girl pouted, "We don't need him mama." She pulled her mother into a close hug, "we are perfect just the two of us."

"But he is a part of our family, isn't he?"

"I won't acknowledge him until he has proven himself worthy of being a part of our family!"

"Oh Sarada…" Sakura gave her daughter a kiss on the black hair, "look! Wouldn't that fit you perfectly?"

* * *

Two hours later they finally left the shop. Sarada was now equipped with some nice stuff and even got her mother to pay for one or two extras. Together they walked down the main shopping street, looking out for some friends: Sakura had called Ino and they wanted to meet for lunch at a cute little cafe.

Inojin was with his mother. He didn't look as happy as Ino about the shopping trip. She had given her son all the bags and only carried her purse. She waved her friends. The second the boy saw Sarada though, he light up. At least he wouldn't be suffering alone (until he realized that girls are immune to the torture of shopping). Still, having her by his side could improve his mood a lot.

"…and then we found this jacket here, it suits him amazingly," Ino chirped and spread out said jacket on the table. Sakura looked at it closely.

"Did you see the small butterfly and heart applications? Do you really think this is for boys?"

"For boys or not it totally suits him," the blonde took Sakuras hands into hers and pulled the woman close, "what is Sarada going to wear? Mama red or Papa black? I think Inojin looks stunning in his father's grey, but sometimes I wonder if my lilac would look good too with his eyes…"

At the word father, Sarada got up, "mama I'll be right back."

"Wait up I'm coming with you!"

Happy to finally leave his mother's side, Inojin caught up with his best friend. They sat down some meters away on a bench, still close enough to hear Ino giggle about Sarada's outfit.

"I'm sorry my mother is pretty exhausting," the blonde boy smiled. He pulled his ponytail in front and started searching for split ends.

"Don't worry about it. Oh stop," she slapped his hands slightly, "you are going to make it worse. Sometimes I think in this friendship I am the man and you are the woman. " Sarada laughed.

"Yeah totally! I mean, I even got longer hair than you," Inojin poked her in the side.

"I'm just trying to stop you from looking totally miserable! Tell me, are you still being bullied?"

Inojin looked into the blue sky, "actually, it's gotten a lot better. Having you on my side seems to scare most of them off." He got a little red, "even though it's a little bit embarrassing to have to depend on you…"

"You are a very kind boy," Sarada nudged at him, "nothing wrong with not wanting to hurt people."

"I wonder if it's really like this… Hey Sarada," the boy turned his head to face her, "may I ask you something?"

* * *

"You look so happy," Sakura packed all the newly bought stuff again and took a cup of coffee from the waiter, "it's good to see you smile."

Ino raised a brow, "I should say this. You usually don't look good when Sasuke is not around. If he's here – you ARE the party. But the second he is gone… I'm sometimes concerned about you. You depend on him too much…"

"You are the one to talk. When your boys are at work, you look just the same."

"Because I am lonely! The difference is that I admit it," the blonde crossed her arms, raising one finger in synch with her brow, "but you girl, you deny it."

"Yeah I know but- HEY!" Sakura was yelling.

Sarada and Inojin were up in a second, running back.

"What happened mama," the girl asked.

"That boy just stole your stuff," Sakura got up, tried to find her purse to put down the money (she wouldn't simply run off, would she). Sarada was quicker.

"We got this," the girl grinned and ran off, Inojin following on her heels. They were still seeing the guy with the heavy plastic bag, running down the street.

He was not a fast runner. At least not compared to a ninja. The two kids were quickly catching up to him, when he was gone in a second. He probably dived into the crowd of people shopping and turned left into one of the many small alleys between the houses.

"You go left, I go right," Inojin shouted to his friend and they separated.

He turned to the right into a very small path between the houses, there he just stood still for a second. The boy opened his hair. The blonde mess fell over his shoulders. He then held his right hand in front of his face in a seal.

"Two o'clock… three adults…" the boy looked up again, "I guess the idiot met up with his friends…" He slowly started to walk and turned right again on the next occasion.

In the middle of the street he found what he was looking for: three men were standing in a circle around the bag with Sarada's new garments. One after another they pulled out the clothings, looking at it.

"You'd think that a big bag holds a lot of valuable things… This is trash," one of them stated, throwing some pants away.

"I don't know… some of this might even fit my daughter," another said. He picked the pants back up and tried to put them in his pocket.

Just then, Inojin stepped up:

"Hey you idiots! This doesn't belong to you!"

* * *

Sarada was running around - Keishi was just too huge. Simply the shopping district was around 5 km² and there was no way she would find whoever had stolen her goods. She sighed.

"How annoying…"

With some swift movements she got onto the highest building and concentrated. She tried to hear Inojin running around, but she simply couldn't – it was too loud. Back on the ground, the girl tried to find the first path again, where they had separated. It took her a while.

The moment she was there, she turned right and heard some guys yelling at each other:

"Do something!"

"What?!"

"Stop that boy!"

Sarada made haste. Something fishy was up. Carefully, the girl peeked around the corner from where the sound came. It could have been dangerous. But it wasn't.

Inojin was playing ball with the guys who had stolen her stuff. She recognized the idiot who had tried to steal her things – he was laying on the floor, his face all messed up. The other two were seemingly his accomplices. One of them was picking up her clothes from the ground and the other was being beat up by Inojin.

She didn't know he could be like that. The usual, calm and weak Inojin was hurting three grown men. The kind, taken back Inojin did it. Her best friend. The guy that she was always protecting from getting beat up himself by his teammates. He looked strangely cold and aggressive with his hair open.

Just then he stopped. Sarada hid behind the stone wall.

"And now, get out of here," Inojin told the men. They stuttered something and ran, stumbling over their own feet. The girl glanced back into the street.

In the shadow of the houses, the blonde grabbed his hair and put it back into a ponytail. He shook his head

Sarada pushed herself against the wall. This was new. Completely new. After a few deep breaths, the girl turned around and ran up to her friend. The second he saw her, the mean look in his eyes was gone.

"You found it," she said and took the bag. It was all there. Maybe a little dirty.

"Yeah, sorry that it took me so long. It was just laying over there." So he hadn't seen her.

"Thank you," Sarada hugged him and Inojin smiled, "no trouble. I'd do anything for you."

* * *

"_Breathless through the night, until a new day dawns. Breathless, out and about, your eyes draw me out! Breathless through the night, Feel what love makes of us…_" a young, blonde woman stood in the middle of the unity arena on a circled stage. She was singing in front of around 30000 spectators from the whole continent. The colorful audience was screaming, singing, beating drums and waving flags. Calls like "WIND WINS" or "ZIGGY SOCKY ZIGGY SOCKY HOY HOY HOY" could be heard all over in the stadium. After the woman was done, a man started the last song _("…He said, 'One day you'll leave this world behind, So live a life you will remember.' My father told me when I was just a child these are the nights that never die My father told me…_"). The crowd was excited, screaming, yelling – warmed up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the moderator said into his microphone, "can you hear me?!"

The crowd answered with a deafening roar.

"Welcome back to the chunin exams! Are you all hyped up?!"

The screams got louder. Some people hit their drums even faster. The moderator waved his hand and it got silent again, "well I see you want some action! Therefore! Please welcome our PARTICIPANTS!" He shouted the last word into the arena. All spectators stood up. They were clapping, screaming the names of their favorite participants, waving their flags…

"Are you afraid?" Sarada stood next to Bolt. They were still within the walls of the arena. Any minute now, the door could open and all the participants would walk into the arena, to receive their first cheers, boos and see the crowd for the first time.

"Of course I'm not," the blonde replied, shaking with excitement, "this is going to be awesome!"

"See you at the top," Sarada smiled and held her hand up.

"Till the top," he replied grabbed her hand in the homie handshake.

End of Chapter 16

* * *

_**My dear readers!**_

_How is it going? Hope you are alright cause I AM TOTALLY HYPED! Today was awesome: My teacher admitted he is a bad prof, I saw Luffy do Gear 4, GJ lives, I watched Age of Ultron (which was awesome)... and: NARUTO GAIDEN: THE SEVENTH HOKAGE AND THE CRIMSON SPRING IS FINALLY OUT!  
I don't know how many people have seen my last weeks rant about how I hope we don't get a "It's allright and everybody is living happily ever after". Well, turns out my idea (explored in "Finding Papa") wasn't too far from what Kishimoto had in mind. Just when you think your favorite charas got their shit together - they don't... and that's why I love Gaiden already. Go Sarada go :D But please forgive me: I will go on writing 'Bolt' instead of 'Boruto', ok? Just feels more comfortable now :3  
_

_Back to the chapter: How did you like it? The capital Keishi, shopping, meeting Ino and Inojin... Inojin showing signs of puperty... This chapter is to the third exam, like what the boat trip was for the second one: A small warm up to get you allready hyped for whats coming up: Fights. Therefore, I wanted to give you a small taste of what it's going to be like in the Unity Arena... Bad music, acohol, hotdogs, pretzels..._

_So... since I am still hyped about Gaiden and Age of Ultron, I just gotta answer the reviews and then go dance around in my room - how would Itachi fight Ultron (a question my brain is constantly thinking about right now). And afterwards I'll go to bed. Uni calls! _

_You are awesome and see you next week for the chunin exams! Stay tuned!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Songs mentioned:_**

_Atemlos - Helene Fischer  
_

_The Nights - Avicii_

* * *

_**Review answers:**_

_Thanks to all my dear readers! You are awesome!_

_**SoundlessWorld**: If you are willing to help him raise his hellish twins, I guess he would be fine with it... Gimme a second, just correcting that typo... The answer is easy: Saeko and Tadashi's mother died. She was supposed to be married, but since she got pregnant, her mother more or less locked her in and she had to raise her kids without anyone knowing, that she actually had kids. The day she (Asami) died, her mother send Saeko and Tadashi away. A heartless bitch... Thanks for the review, stay tuned - see you next time :3 Take care  
_

_**Laura**: Thank you very much for the kind review! I have a lot planned for the future of this story, so please keep on reading until you cannot see it anymore ;) Thank you  
_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: I'm sure Gaara will be alright.. he is a big boy :D Well, It's like in todays culture. A lot of things from far back have been taken and _  
_commercialized. Whether this is good or bad depends and differs greatly but still... I had an even longer version of the last chapter - but to make it fit into the story line, I had to shorten it and cut stuff out. I don't know if I will ever upload it. I am honored to have received your humble review :3 Please take this story to hand anytime you feel like having a little time off! Yours sincerely, Usagi - Plz stay tuned! Till next week ;)_**  
**

_**ropertfree72**: Thank you very much! I love to write this story and I hope you will stay tuned for the next chapters! I try to update weekly. I started this FF the day Naruto ended, therefore I tried to make it like a... badly written substitude for the weekly chapter. Still, I hope you enjoy it! And yes the romance part... well, let's solve our "I hate you"-issues ;) then we will talk :D Plz stay tuned - till next week!  
_

**Rdk3**: Hey the Ichiraku guy himself is at fault... His daughter didn't marry the guy, but as a father it was his duty to tell Ayame, that he will always support her! At least I think so.. / I like your idea with the Formular 1 suits. I actuall thought about it - but Naruto was like "Oh hell nooooo!" And I was like "Well, ok... Power Rangers..?" "Worse!" Just imagine the picture... XD Thank you for the review! Please stay tuned, see you next week :D


	19. Chapter 17: The Unity Arena

_Just to clear something: Yes, I have read Naruto Gaiden/Naruto 701 - with much enthusiasm! More of it below or in last chapter's description! Have fun! _

* * *

Chapter 17: The Unity Arena

The light was bright, the screams deafening.

If Sarada hadn't know that she just entered the Unity Arena, she would have thought something must have happened. Maybe she had been abducted by aliens. But no. It was simply the spectators and all the attention the participants got.

They had entered in two lines and were now standing in a perfect circle on the stage in the middle of the arena. The platform was slightly turning, therefore the participants could be seen from anywhere. In the background the ninja alliance hymn was playing.

Again the moderator took the word:

"Do you love them? Yes? Awesome! Well, you all know their names! Let's start here! AKIMICHI CHOCHO!" All around the arena, Chocho's face appeared on the huge screens, with her village symbol next to herself. The chocolate girl raised her arms with a peace sign and took her cheers with a happy, "fuck yeah!" The announcer did it with all the participants.

Shikadai looked pretty bored, Bolt jumped into the air and almost fell down from the platform.

Sarada noticed some of the names: She recognized Setsuna Meijo standing some meters away from her. Sarada would never forget that bitches face. She looked older. Maybe this time, Sarada would get her chance to beat the asshole up? Or one of her stupid teammates… All of them had made it. They deserved a good beat up – for Hotaru's sake.

Then there were the Sabakuno twins. Tadashi reacted similar to Bolt, but without almost falling off the stage. The wind blew his chin long flaming hair out of his face and revealed a superior grin: Like he wanted to say "I've won already". His sister was different. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest. The girl wore her locks in two lower braids. Her eyes were dead set somewhere in front of her, Sarada couldn't see where. But sometimes she seemed to be glancing back at Bolt.

When Sarada was introduced, she smiled slightly. So much attention… The girl felt Inojjins eyes on her back, but she chose to ignore it. She had made a fool out of herself, protecting him. Only now she had realized that he didn't need her protection. Sarada was kind of pissed.

When the announcer was done with the participants, the crowd clapped. The cheers grew silent, when the man held up his hands:

"Participants, guests! Now I will announce the schedule for the next two weeks." A table appeared on the screens.

"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we will have the preliminaries! Each day you will watch four matches, each around 30 minutes long! Please enjoy! Since today is day one with the opening ceremony, the preliminaries will take place on day 2 and 3. Day 4 is a break with no fights! Please enjoy all the attractions around the area.

Day 5 will be the village presentation! Like every year, there will be a parade – And I have seen it already: It's going to be awesome!"

The crowd roared. Sarada started sweating in the spotlight.

"The quarterfinals will take place on day 6 and 7. Each day you will have to matches! Following, the Academy presentations are going to be on day 8! The two semifinals will take place on day 9 and 10, followed by the music festival on day 11 and the anticipated unity party on day 12!

This year, we are giving the participants two days to recover from the semifinals, because we want to see one awesome fight on day 13: THE FINALE! And well, the goodbye party on day 14 but-"

The crowd, almost tired of explanations, heard the word "finale" and was back with its attention. They roared, screamed, clapped. Bolt was grinning like stupid. His eyes were hushing all over the people, whose faces he couldn't see. The boy was shaking with excitement. There was only one thing left, which could make him and the others more ecstatic: The announcement of tomorrow's fights.

"My dear people, I know how much you anticipated this! And now, the long wait is over," the announcer flashed his smile over the crowd, "this year, the participants have been divided in two groups. After mixing you all up randomly, tomorrows fights will be…." The screens were flashing two names into the arena.

"SABAKUNO SAEKO VS AKIMICHI CHOCHO!" Sarada could have sworn, that Chocho's face went white in a second. Saeko, didn't even react.

The next two names were shown:

"SEIDOU MOTOZU VS SABAKUNO TADASHI!" Followed by:

"KIRINO HAKU VS KADAJ" and finally:

"UCHIHA SARADA VS YAMANAKA INOJIN! The other pairings will be announced, tomorrow night! See you all!"

And with this, the opening ceremony was concluded. The hosts had held their speeches in the beginning, the music slowly faded out and the participants left the stage.

Inojin caught up to Sarada, "hey… hey Sarada! Can I please have a word?" He tried to hold her back, but the girl didn't even look at him.

"Could it be that you pissed her off," Bolt had followed Inojin, hoping to talk to her himself.

"I don't know... Since we went shopping, she hasn't been talking to me anymore…" The blonde boy sighed, "Do you know what's up?"

"… No I have no idea… sorry… but… you went shopping with Sarada?"

* * *

Sarada shared a room with a girl from Kirigakure: Houzuki Suihi. She had chin long white hair and each eye was of a different color: one lilac and the other almost red. Sarada didn't need to ask to hear why she had these eyes.

"You see? It's a rare thing to have two colored eyes, right? My dad's eyes are lilac and my mom has red eyes. Totally strange to have them both. But that makes me unique! I think I should color my hair. Should I color my hair? I mean, if I have two different hair colors, I might get a boyfriend. What do you think Uchiha? My big brother always says that I talk too much and that no one ever really listens to me, despite my intellect and - Hey! Are you listening?"

But Sarada was fast asleep. She had simply fallen onto the bed, the second she had left the bath. Her mother had packed her stuffed elephant, to cheer her up if needed and she was now hugging the plushy tightly.

"Oh come on," Suihi groaned. The girl quickly pulled the blanked away from under Sarada and threw it over the sleeping figure, "it's still very cold outside! You can be happy that my mum asked me to look after you... tss…" She slipped on her own night gown "well, good night then I guess."

* * *

It wasn't allowed to train, as soon as it was clear who your next opponent was. The referees had decided, they would only reveal the fighting pairs right the day before their fight and to not give anyone advantage over the other, they had put up some rules:

One of them was the earlier mentioned training ban, as soon as you knew who you'd be facing. Later on it would be a lot easier, because the participants got reduced by half each round, and at some point you'd simply know who was capable of doing what. That didn't mean though, that you had a better chance then. For starters, not only you'd be carefully observing, but the others did too. Therefore it was essentially to not reveal you best techniques, except you truly had too.

Bolt didn't have that luxury. After Nisshou TV had broadcasted their fight against the spiders in the second part, everyone who had been watching knew what he was capable of. He had been training these last months with Konohamaru, to develop new strategies and techniques, but at the end everything would come back to his chains and the rasengan.

With a grim face, he threw some shuriken. There were training grounds especially for the participants, where they were save from the media and the crowd. Bolt didn't plan on giving away his awesome new abilities and his super cool new ninjutsu already. But maybe?

"Hey Bolt! What are you doing here?"

Bolt stopped throwing kunai. He stood up straight and watched with wonder, as his father jumped down from a tree, "are you practicing with the kunai?" Naruto wanted to take a look at his sons work, but Bolt was quick to get his weapons back.

"Yeah… kind of… Why are you here?"

"I wanted to get you," Naruto pointed into the direction of the arena, "Sarada's fight will start soon and you know, I thought we might watch it together." The Hokage smiled at his son. But he didn't look too happy.

"Sorry dad, but I cannot watch her fight just yet."

"What do you mean?"

"We want to fight and… We want to fight each other and therefore we are not going to watch each other's matches. We want to have the moment of surprise and see, how far we have come since we last saw each other fight," Bolt looked Naruto straight in the eye. The Hokage smiled.

"Allow me to join you then."

Bolt smiled.

* * *

The first two fights were over. Gaara's son had beat his opponent. Well, it was quite a short battle: Like his aunt he was quite good with wind techniques and all he did, was make his opponent fly threw the arena. The poor guy bounced from wall to wall until Tadashi gave him a second to take a deep breath and the chance to forfeit.

Sarada had closely watched the second battle: a kind looking guy (Kirino Haku) had been fighting the guy called Kadaj from Amegakure. But the Haku guy didn't have a chance. Kadaj used a special sword and he was a master with it.

It was finally time for her battle, therefore Sarada made her way down from the participant's-spectators-spot, to the entrance of the arena. It was a different one from the day before, because this time, they would be raised on the circle platform in the middle of the arena, to not give away the arena's compound too early.

When it had been decided, that the third exam should always be at the same spot, the united ninja nations had built the Unity Arena. The building now was about 15 years old, as were most of the constructions around it. But the arena had been built, to always be reshaped:

Depending on what was wished, the fighting ground could be changed between forest, ocean, islands, grassland, volcano… the possibilities were endless.

Sarada was really excited to finally see what she was going to get. Would she have to fight Inojin above raging fires? Maybe a desert? She was too deep in thoughts, already at her starting point, to notice how the blonde boy took the place in front of her. He thought about saying things like "may the better win" or "let's have a fair fight", but he couldn't get out a word. Inojin didn't know what it was, but she seemed to be kind of pissed at him. He didn't dare to interrupt her thoughts. Rather not anger the girl even more.

Upstairs, the referees had retaken their seats and the announcer held his speech about how the last fight had been awesome and who was coming next. Both participants couldn't hear him. Or the crowd. As soon as it was allowed to start, the platform rose out of the ground and left the contestants standing within a calm grassland with small hills. But there was no sound. Except maybe for some bees and water rushing down a hill.

Using a genjutus, the hosts had built a protective wall: No technique or weapon could escape from within the fighting area and no sound form outside would disturb the fighters. It was like a small world, only for Sarada and Inojin.

Three loud beeps signaled them, they may begin. But neither moved.

Inojin just stood there, unsure what he should do. He tried to study Sarada and bit his lip. Her eyes were hidden behind the sports glasses she had gotten from her father, her body was stiff.

"Hey... maybe we should-"

"Why?"

All she did was ask a simple question. Inojin was puzzled.

"Why what? I mean... shouldn't we fight..?"

"Not until you tell me why!"

Finally, Sarada looked up. She put down her glasses (Inojin blushed), took a fighting stance and yelled:

"I've made myself a fool for you! Why didn't you tell me that you can fight?!"

"I don't get what you mean," the blonde boy yelled back, "you are no fool and actually you look good without gla-"

But he never finished his sentence. A kunai, sharp and shiny, almost hit his face. It cut of some of his bangs. He didn't see it coming. Something warm drippled down his cheek. Inojin licked it. A taste of metal.

"You just… cut me…" he stuttered.

Suddenly she was by his side, "just imagine where I would have hit you with my glasses on." Sarada raised her leg and kneed her best friend into the gut. The force was quite powerful and the boy flew a meter or two. Slowly, Sarada followed him.

"You know, I saw what you did last week."

Inojin wasn't up fast enough. She pulled him up by his ponytail, just to kick him back into the ground.

"I-don'-know-what-you-are-talking-about," he tried to say while getting beat up. With one last hit, Sarada punched his face, making him hit the arena walls.

"I always thought you needed my protection, because you were my best friend. I always thought you were a kind, calm young boy. The complete opposite of Bolt. And I liked you for that. Now forgive me but it's kind of hard to understand, that you can beat up three mafia guys with your bare hands!"

Inojin shuddered, "so that's it…" He whipped away some blood from his lips.

"And what is it, that makes you so angry about it," he yelled at her.

"I thought you needed protection! One good soul in a pond of rotten ninjas! I wanted you to stay that way! To not get corrupted! I believed in you," Sarada's head went red, "have you any idea how embarrassing it is, to find out you were protecting someone strong and making a total fool out of yourself? I bet Chocho and Shikadai know exactly what you are! They always knew, right?! And it was all one big play to-"

She didn't have the time to finish her sentence. She needed to defend herself

Inojin had taken the chance of her rant. Quickly he had grabbed one of his scrolls and sent a bunch of miniature comic dogs at the girl. She had trouble fighting them off, since they had gotten close to her already. But she managed.

The second she was finally free again of the ink monsters, Inojin had run up a small hill across from her. The boy had opened his hair and taken an almost epic pose. With challenging eyes he looked at the girl.

"You want a fight, right," he asked, his pen in one, the scroll in the other hand, "well, you shall have it."

"Finally you are getting serious," Sarada smirked and put her glasses back on.

End of Chapter 17

* * *

**_Welcome back lovely people!  
_**

_I hope you are doing good? Did you like the chapter? I personally love the Unity Arena... I always picture a soccer stadium, but with higher walls like the Konoha exam structure and stuff... And of course with a lot more space for viewers! It's just... epic! And I guess, if you just watch, fun :D (I wouldn't want to participate in these exams... OOOOOH HELL NO!)  
_

_Sarada is pissed at Inojin... I wanted to do last chapters scene a lot earlier (if you maybe remember: I wrote something like I didn't get to do all the scenes, that I would have liked to), in a different way. Like Chocho, Shikadai and Inojin working together to beat a group of other genin or something. But I didn't want to stretch it too long. Inojin had no clue why she was having issues with him. He really hadn't noticed her. But now he knows and is ready to beat the shit out of her. Well, I hope he can :D Sarada is pretty strong. But she has never seen him fighting therefore...  
And I have some really awesome things coming up for Bolt and Sarada - technique wise. Both of them have new stuff they want to try out! I just have to make sure, that everything works out the way I want it. Just read the story. It's going to be legen- wait for it..._

_I have been asked and notified by a lot of people, that the Naruto Gaiden 1 or Naruto 701 has been released...  
**YES! I have read it! I loved it!**I just choose to ignore it for my story... I released this story the day the original Naruto was over. Therefore, all I had was chapter 700. Therefore, it won't perfectly fit with the original interpretation by Masashi Kishimoto - as much as I would like it to fit. I don't know yet what I should do with the canon characters like Mitsuki, that were not known in the beginning. I have a pretty good idea where I want this story to go, so please don't be too rough with me. All I want is to entertain my readers and make you smile (or cry, scream at your PC, hate me, love me... well you know). But I will try to take in as much as possible, without altering the storyline that I have prepared!  
_

_Thank you so much again! Thank you for all the support, "likes" and reviews! You guys are awesome!_

_See you next week and have fun with the next Naruto Gaiden chapter - if you read it!_

**_Your Usagi_**

**_P.S. Happy Walpurgis Night!_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_I was so happy this week.. Like everyday I would wake up and have a new review (almost). You guys are awesome! Thank you very much!_

_**SoundlessWorld:** I'm just going to correct that... gimme me a second... ;) I'm sorry I kept you waiting! And there goes another week... I need to update faster :D I am.. kind of afraid of Inojin. He is... pretty different with his hair open. But it's so much fun writing him *.* And oh yes Hotaru... Hah I love Hotaru. In fact, I love all these characters except for Naruto. And thats because I'm always thinking "I don't want ninja jesus in here"... man I'm complicated. Bolt will be big in the next chapter! Thank you very much for the review! Have a wonderful day and lot's of fun with Naruto Gaiden - if you read it. Love, Usagi  
_

_** ropertfree72:**Thank you very much :D I give my best to make it "authentic"! (With Gaiden out it's difficult but hey :D) Will they, won't they.. is there love at all? I guess I'm going short on the romance tag. I needed to develope my characters - now the real fun begins :D Thank you very much and may the springtime of youth be with you! Your Usagi  
_

_** streetplaa-cruz:** Thank you for the review! If nothing gets in between, I update weekly! Hope to see you around again soon! Your Usagi  
_

_**Nico:**Oh I loved the first chapter of Gaiden. Kishimoto is a good author. But kind of a troll... I started this ff the day Naruto ended.. therefore it might be quite different than the official storyline. Even though, please enjoy this story and stay with it as long as you wish :D Thank you! Your Usagi  
_

_**Mars:** Jepp! Saw it, read it, loved it!  
_

_**Guest:** Yes, I did read it - but choose to ignore most of it ;)  
_

**_ Cecily Evermore19:_** _Welcome to fanfiction I guess :D Awesome to have you here! Yes, Masashi Kishimoto knows how to pull his readers in again... Nope I don't believe in Sasuke and Karin... Well, I must admit: I wasn't quite sure at first. But heck... I ship SasuSaku! And KarinSuigetsu... How do you shortcut that? Sasuke's journey is one of the next chapters - partly. I have to put two weeks of exams together right now... Sasuke is happily walking through sand... XD Thank you for the review! Hope to see you soon! Your Usagi_

_** IamWhatIamBaby:** I don't want Karin to be a virgin.. Even if she gets on my nerves: I hope the best for her in the offical story. What I have planned, might not be as nice :D You have a sharp mind.. there I'm trying to only give small hints on whats coming up and you just... That's not a confirmation! But maybe... somewhere... in the future..? hihihi And OMG Momoka... and Hotaru... they don't get enough screentime. You are right. I need to get them ack here soon! Thanks for the awesome review! Hope to see you soon! Your Usagi  
_

_**dark princess**: Thank you very much for your support! I'm giving my very best and you are - until now - the only one who actually mentioned Saeko.. Oh she is badass. Will they, won't they? That's the question, right? Please stay tuned for a new chapter! I try to get them up weekly! See you soon! Your Usagi_


	20. Chapter 18: Inojin vs Sarada

Chapter 18: Inojin vs. Sarada

The crowd was ecstatic. None of the previous fights had been as intense as the one right now. It was only the first day and they got to see one of the most expected fights, with the highest expectations – after all it was between two Konoha ninja and one of them was from the Uchiha clan. The clan was mostly gone since a long time. But everyone who had fought in the fourth ninja world war still feared them. The survivors would tell their kids how they fought Uchiha Madara, side by side and how only two shinobi were able to keep up with the legend. And one of them was Uchiha Sasuke.

Everyone in the arena knew, who Sarada was. They expected her to beat Inojin hands down anyways (well, they had no idea about what Inojin might be able to do). No one had thought that the fight could start with so much emotion.

Ino stood at the railing with her husband Sai. She had grabbed the metal and was shaking in excitement and anger. What did Sarada mean with "last week" and "beat up three mafia guys"? What did her son get himself into? Sai on the other hand was observing carefully. He knew about his son's kind nature and had presumed that the boy was able to do more, than he let everybody know. Inojin had more in common with Sai, than Ino or anybody else would actually think.

"Do you think she is going to hurt him," Ino turned to Sakura. The pinkette was watching from the same spot as her friends. She shook her head.

"I don't think she intends to. But it seems like he truly pissed her off…"

Ino was worried and Sai put his arms around her, "don't worry," he smiled –truly smiled-, "he will be alright."

"Of course he will," Ino held up her fist, "he is my son! GO AND BEAT HER," she yelled.

* * *

Inojin didn't hear her. He was too focused on the girl. Sarada was looking straight at him. For some seconds they were just starring, until the boy made his move:

He threw the scroll into the air and in the same movement, senbo at the girl. While Sarada avoided them, he caught the scroll again and drew some new stuff.

"Ninpou: Chouju Giga – Bird!"

A bunch of small sparrows emerged from the scroll. At first they flew up into the sky, only to make a harsh turn and drop. Like falling bombs they started to attack the girl.

Sarada ran like a rabbit. Left, right, left, right. She could hear loud explosions behind herself. That bastard had attached explosive tags onto the birds. She smiled.

"Is that all you can do," she laughed and avoided the last one of the bird bombs.

"You really think so," Inojin answered seriously. He had a crazy look in his eyes: A mixture between 'I'll kill you' and 'I'll show you what I'm worth'. Sarada couldn't exactly tell, because he had already sent another bunch of monsters after her. This time it was a group of huge lion like creatures – the only ones that he had actually modelled after his father's art style. The boy called it ancient.

"Let's see how you deal with these guys," he yelled.

Sarada jumped aside, as one of the things leaped for her. She desperately wanted to kick the hell out of Inojin, but first she needed to see what he was actually capable of doing. With one swing of her leg, she kicked an approaching lion away – dissolving it.

"Oh thank you! Now I have ink on my leg," she complained, fighting off another one.

"Is that all you care about?!"

Sarada was finally done dissolving the last one of the lions. She turned around quickly and saw how Inojin was approaching her.

"Finally going to attack me yourself," she taunted him, "I thought you would go on hiding behind your ink friends until I'm down!"

"You thought wrong! Take this!"

It happened before Sarada even had the chance to react: A bunch of ink snakes attacked her. She couldn't fight them off and the beasts wrapped themselves around her, making her unable to move. The girl had to bend her back to not get completely controlled by the things. One of the snakes wrapped around her arms – it was that long – and squeezed so hard, Sarada had to let go of her freshly drawn kunai.

"Urgh," she gasped for air.

"Do you still think I am weak? Do you still think I need protection?!" Inojin slowly approached her. Since she couldn't move, he probably thought he didn't have to fear her anymore.

"I… I never thought you were weak," she pressed out between her lips. The snakes loosened a little bit up, to let her breath, "are you going to finish the job now?" Sarada grinned. A devilish grin. The boy got even more pissed.

"Do you think it's funny?! I have you in my grasp! You cannot move from here," he yelled, "you are totally at my mercy!"

"Then get the job done, coward" Sarada answered.

* * *

"Is she trying to make him kill her?" Ino clung to Sai's arm tightly. She was worried about her boy. He had never been like this ever before.

"She wants to see how far he would go," a voice form the back responded. The parents turned around. Kakashi had approached them.

"How do you know," Sai asked and turned back to the arena, "he has her, she cannot get out…"

"She hasn't used even one technique yet," the former Hokage explained. He greeted Sakura friendly and walked up next to her, "Sarada hasn't even taken out her Sharingan, while Inojin looks like he is out of ideas."

"But he caught her…"

"True," this time Sakura answered, "but Kakashi-sensei is right. She has only been watching"

Ino pouted and turned back to the fight, "I'm sure he will win in a second. He will…"

* * *

"I will now show you my best ninjutsu," Inojin grinned. He held his hands up in front of him, targeting the girl.

"And what would that be…" Sarada simply rolled her eyes.

"Just wait… Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

At first, nothing happened. Then, in an eye blink, Inojin fell lifeless onto the ground, his pretty blonde hair draped all around him. On his free belly skin, some pressure marks appeared.

Sarada was shaking for a second. Then, there was a grin on her face.

"Ha! I told you I'd get you," she said.

* * *

"He has her," Ino cheered. She was jumping up and down, hugging Sai and pointing at Sakura, "he got her! He got her! Didn't I tell you? He's won!"

"Not so fast," it was Sakura's turn to grin, "Do you remember that she is my daughter?"

"And what of it?"

"Oh… it's nothing." Sakura smiled.

* * *

Inojin had taken over Sarada's head. It felt like taking a stroll through an art exhibition: There were moving pictures on the wall. These were memories. Right now, the boy was looking at some old childhood stories: three year old Sarada on the playground with her mother, five year old Sarada protecting him from getting beat up by Chocho for real… He felt guilty. Looking at these memories, he realized, that she had always truly wanted to protect him. One of her brightest memories, was on his seventh birthday, when nobody had showed up, but Sarada had made them set up a party at the academy. All together they had sung "Happy Birthday" to him.

The boy went on with the pictures, when suddenly…

"Enjoying it, aren't we?"

The voices sound shook everything. The corridor Inojin had been in, chinked before it shattered like glass into a black void. Above all the shards, Sarada stood.

"Tell me, did you like what you just saw," she asked, coming closer. Inojin hurled back. This was not supposed to happen.

"How come you have control right now," he asked, his eyes glimmering with a mixture of anger, fright and hope to regain control.

"This is my head boy," she answered, "and you never had any control. Is this the best you can do? In that case," Sarada took a step towards the blonde, "get the fuck out of my head!"

Inojin was puzzled. This had never happened before. Sarada took up her leg and kicked him onto the chest, making him fall backwards into the void.

* * *

Neither of the competitors moved. Three long minutes nothing happened on the battle field. Inojin had fallen forward, with his face in the dirt. Sarada was on her knees, her head on her back. If she had her eyes open, she would have seen the sky. But they were closed tightly.

Sarada took in a deep breath. She opened her eyes, sat up straight and looked around. A smirk played around her lips. She flexed her muscles and dissolved the snakes easiy.

"How…. How did you…" the boy too moved. He coughed up some dirt, crawling onto his knees. He grabbed a hand of dirt, "how did you fight of my power?!"

"Oh come on," she grinned even more, finally getting back on her feet, "my mother did it, I did it… I think that's a family thing. Anyways… who cares? Shall I finally get serious too?"

He flashed his eyes at her, "I just showed you: You cannot fight me!"

"Yeah and your snakes dissolved themselves… I'll never get the ink out of my clothes," she complained, "Shall we get started..?"

"What are you-"

But he didn't have the time to finish his sentence. Sarada's foot blocked his mouth. She had been quicker than ever before. Within an eye blink, she had moved from in front of him to "I have my foot in your face"-close. The boy got kicked back against the walls of the arena.

"You little-"

Right swing, left swing, right swing – Sarada had followed him and gave everything her arms had to offer. Only barely did he escape her second left swing. He slithered aside, brining as much distance in between the two of them as he could.

"You see," she turned around, giving him a smile, "I didn't even use one drop of chakra yet. You," she pointed at him, "you are simply weak."

"How did you get so fast? Last time we trained-"

"I have been trained by the man that trained my father. The sixth Hokage does not do halfhearted things. These past five months," she looked at her hands. These were rough, with horny skin and any place not covered by it, looked like it had recently been healed of blisters, "I'm no easy opponent. Come on. One last fight."

Sarada didn't like it. She didn't want to hurt the one person, which she had trusted more than anyone else. "Had" was the right expression. The moment she had known of his betrayal, all her trust was gone. All there was now, was anger.

Inojin didn't answer her. He pulled out his scroll and pen, but again she was quicker than him.

He tried to punch her, Sarada caught his fist. He tried to kick her away, Sarada avoided his food and kicked him herself.

For five minutes all they did was hit and kick each other. Sometimes he would land a swing on the girl, but for every hit she took, she gave him three back. It didn't take her long to land that one final hit, which would decide the battle.

Inojin stumbled, tried to regain control over his body and lost consciousness.

"I guess… that's it," Sarada mumbled. Her knuckles were a little bloody, but it wasn't her blood. She would get some bruises (he had hit her pretty hard after all), but she would be fine. Her friend looked worse. She had really taken out all her anger and resentment on him. Every small emotion she had kept bottled up, had just been released in the rain of punches he had received.

"I'm sorry Inojin," she whispered as the silencing barrier was finally lifted.

The deafening cheers and roaring of the crowd reached her ears, making the girl loose track for a second. Then, a group of medical ninjas ran up to the boy and the announcer up to Sarada.

"What a fight," he yelled into the arena, "ladies and gentleman! I present you the third winner: UCHIHA SARADA!" The viewers screamed and cheered as Sarada's face was flashed all over the arena on the screens. She looked tired, but nobody seemed to care. She had won and deserved to be celebrated a bit, didn't she. Slowly, she raised her arms.

* * *

"Is he alright? Is my baby boy alright?!" Ino had run downstairs to the medical units, as soon as she had seen they had taken him.

"Mrs. Yamanaka would you please calm down a bit? He is going to be just fine! Please let us do our work," a young nurse said, trying to calm the raging mother somehow. She didn't succeed though.

"I don't care! Let me see my boy! I can help him just as good as you! So-"

"They are right," Sai finally reached his wife and put a hand on her shoulder, "they are the best to help him. Don't worry, they will let you see him soon."

"How can you say this? He is your son too!"

"And I believe they can do it. Shall we get a coffe?"

It took him some time, but eventually Sai managed to calm Ino down. After a nurse promised to notify them, as soon as the boy was awake, they made their way to the cafeteria.

* * *

Inojin woke an hour later. He had been beaten badly, but it wasn't too serious. The sun's last rays were shining through the window into his hospital room. The thing waking him, had been the door handle, reflecting the sun light right into his face.

The boy slowly turned away. He was in a hospital room, wasn't he?

"If I was you, I wouldn't move too much," a familiar voice said. Inojin slightly smirked.

"Sorry but I don't think I can continue our little fight…"

"I know. But you should really lay still," Sarada slightly pressed him into the covers, "otherwise you will pull out your infusion." Only then he noticed the small needle in his arm. "Do you want to sit up?"

"Please."

Sarada brought a second pillow from the equipment closet. Carefully, she stuffed it behind his first one. The boy let her do it. He couldn't move anyways.

When she was done, Sarada sat onto the end of his bed.

"Tell me why."

"Why what," he was puzzled.

"Why didn't you tell me about you not getting bullied anymore? I just talked to Chocho and Shikadai. They said it was all for show. I mean," she looked away from him, "I am happy for you. But why didn't you tell me anything? Were you afraid I wouldn't protect you anymore? Or did you want to play with me? You are my friend… so please tell me…"

Inojin looked sad. He didn't dare to cross eyes with her. The floor was a lot better listener anyways, "I didn't tell you because…. Because…"

"Inojin! Now or never," she got up.

"I didn't tell you… you… you are precious to me."

"As you are to me," Sarada gave him a sad smile, "I just don't-"

"I mean, different than friends. Sarada, you are more to me than just a friend-"

"Best friends! I know, but-"

"I like you Sarada!"

"What? I like-"

"Not like that!"

Inojin grabbed her left hand with both of his, leaned slightly forward and pressed her hand to his forehead, the long blonde hair framing his face. It was still open after all.

The girl just watched him. Something in her head had just clicked.

"You like me more… than best friends? In what manner?"

He took a deep breath, then looked up to her horrified face, "it started months ago. You had just defended me again from Chocho and her idiot friends. They wanted to hurt you, so I decided to protect you myself. I beat them up. Chocho wasn't frightened, but proud. She wanted me and Shikadai to keep my strength a secret, to fool possible enemies. And I was afraid, to lose you."

"You would have never lost me as a friend."

"Yeah… but I was afraid that everything would change, the second you discovered the true me… All these times we trained together, we laughed together. Just the two of us. It'll all be over now, right? Because I frighten you, just as I frighten myself" he answered and let go of her hand. Sarada didn't know what she was supposed to answer now.

"I don't hate you. You are my friend. You betrayed my trust and made me a fool. It'll never be the same. But I don't know yet how it'll be," she backed away, turned around and grabbed the door handle.

"Sarada! I love you."

Her hand on the door knob shook. With tears in her eyes she turned around.

"But you are my friend…"

Sarada was gone before Inojin could say another word.

"Damn it… damn it," he whispered to himself, "I just wanted us to stay that way…"

The sun had finally sunk. It was all dark in his room. Until somebody knocked.

"Hey son," Sai entered and sat onto the hospital bed. He ruffled his son through the hair and wiped away a single tear, "you are not alone."

Inojin smiled slightly, "I know dad... I know."

End of Chapter 18

* * *

**_My dear readers_**

_Welcome back and thank you for reading (already) chapter 18! We just cracked the 100 in reviews and favorites. Thank you all so much!  
_

_There have been a lot of questions about Inojin: Why is he that way? Why is he acting like that? Couldn't he just have told her? Yeah he is probably just a kid. He is 14 years old. I wasn't better that age. What I now know as a young adult, is that if you talk things out before they get big, you can avoid lot's of trouble. But he has yet to learn it. And gosh Sarada is a little drama queen. But her best friend just more or less told her that he loves her - that's a first! I'm just happy that I'm not that age anymore...  
_

_For the fight: I researched a lot about what Ino and Sai could have passed on to their son. In the first chapter of Naruto Gaiden we saw that the boy is able to use the ink, but I am pretty sure that Ino is not going to let her secret clan powers die out by not teaching them to him. Therefore he's using a nice mix I guess. But I can assure you: He will get stronger and learn more techniques.  
Sarada on the other hand, has just been usign thai jutsu. Yeah I know, I wanted her to at least use the sharingang, but it wasn't necessary. She is going to keep her best stuff a secret/won't use it, unitil she really needs to (you never know who's watching). But I'm already choreographing her next fight. Therefore I can say shit's gonna get crazy...  
_

_Did you like the chapter? What did you think? How did you do while waiting on Naruto Gaiden chapter 2? Is there something you want to see in the future of this story?_

_Next week will be all Bolt's! Stay tuned and don't let the blonde guy down ;)_

_Until next week_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all so much for your reviews! You cracked the 100! .  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Thank you very much! Good to hear you liked it :3 Inojin is simply afraid of loosing his one true friend. He cherishes and cares about her so much, that he forgot that they were friends that could talk about everything.. Poor boy I'd say. And jepp, Bolt is like: "Ima gonna kick butt till the top!" XD He doesn't want any advantage over her. He wants it to be fair and square :D Hotaru will be back next week, with Ako and Bolt! Please stay tuned :3 Thank you and see you next week. Your Usagi  
_

_**MuffinMan9223**: Thank you for the review! You are on spot: you don't simply damage Uchiha pride and especially not Sarada's. I wanted her to go harder on him, but they are friends - she couldn't hurt her friend, could she? I hope the chapter lived up to your expectations! Hope to see you again next week! THX Your Usagi  
_

_**ropertfree72: **May the force be with you in your springtime of youth!**  
**_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: Yeah me too... Kishi is a troll... . But I still love his work! Thank you for the review! And yeah, I like the Uzumaki family dynamic :3 And well, Inojin.. you read it -.- children. I hope you liked it too this time! Please stay tuned, next week Bolt'll kick ass ;) And: Your review made MY day :D  
_

_**streetplaa-cruz**: Thank you very much for the review! I hope you were as entertained as last time :3 Thank you and I hope to see you next week! Your Usagi  
_

_**dark princess**: So, what did you think about the fight? Yeah, this is quite different than the original. But well, it's a fanfic :3 And I love writing it. And as long as I get awesome reviews like yours, I'll keep updating! :D Sasuke hm... he is somewhere in the jungle now I guess? Maybe he already reached the grasslands... I gotta go check on him! Thank you very much, I hope to see you again next week for the new chapter! Your Usagi  
_

_**818carlos**: You wrote review Nr. 100! Thank you so much! I never believed this story would get this much attention... :3 I like writing my story with only small breadcrums for you guys to pick up. I "don't know" yet what's going to happen ;) Inojin likes her, that's an open secret now. But how this will develope? I hope they don't get themselves into a soap opera (*cough* Sakura-Sasuke-Karin in Gaiden *cough*). But I like the ideas you have there :D Maybe you are not that wrong? Thank you very much again! Please stay tuned - next week there will be a new chapter! See you, Usagi_


	21. Chapter 19: Are you watching, Dad?

Chapter 19: Are you watching, dad?

It was bad. Like, really bad.

Sakura was running through the corridor while undressing herself. When she finally reached the dressing room, heads were already turning around, to see who had just passed by only in a bra and panties. At the dressing room, the woman slipped into her surgery gear.

A second woman came in and closed the buttons on the back of the suit.

"How is she holding herself up? Anything new," Sakura rushed through the door at the other end of the dressing room. There, she started washing her hands, disinfecting them

"She is stable, but if she doesn't get help now, she will lose her legs," the nurse answered, helping Sakura to put on the surgery gloves.

"Well, I shall not let her wait then, shall I?"

And Sakura entered the operating room.

* * *

Sarada was outside again. She had dried her tears with a tissue paper and cleaned her face. She wanted to watch the last fight, but was already too late. Kakashi told her what had happened and Sarada was actually happy she didn't see it:

The arena had been changed to a beach environment – not easy to fight on, but not too hard either. Chocho had put up quite a fight against the girl from Sunagakure. Though still not good enough. After watching Chocho try to bash her with the body inflating technique, Saeko had sighed and countered. The "fight" was over in seconds. With ease, she had caught Chocho's legs with her sand. Saeko had only brought a hand full, but like her father, Gaara of the desert, the girl infused the sand in the arena with her own, to control it at will. She had caught Chocho in the sand and asked her three times to surrender. But the proud Akimichi heiress didn't falter. In the end, Saeko used her sand and broke Chocho's legs several times. The battle ended with Chocho rendered unable to move, bleeding all over the sand, and Saeko trying not to vomit.

"Why would she puke," Sarada asked Kakashi as they both stood in the lodge her mother and the Yamanaka's had been in before. The former Hokage shrugged.

"Maybe she can't stand the sight of blood? Your mother is already downstairs, getting ready to do the surgery on Chocho's legs, right?"

Sarada nodded, "yeah, I just ran into her. She said I was awesome and started throwing away her clothing." She held up her mother's jeans, shirt and jacket, "I thought she might want it back later. I just wonder… she is usually very modest."

Kakashi nodded, "seems like it's really bad."

"Will she make it?"

Kakashi looked over to his pupil, "don't worry. There is no finer medic than your mother."

Finally they were done bringing back the clean surface of the arena. The platform was back too and the announcer had taken his place. He didn't look ready to perform though. Just like the crowd, he was still shocked from what he had seen.

"Well," he took another deep breath and dried some of his sweat with a white tissue, "wasn't this an amazing fight… Today's winners are: Sabakuno Tadashi, Sabakuno Saeko, Uchiha Sarada and Kadaj! Congratulations!"

The crowd kindly clapped. They were exhausted even after just the first day.

"Let's not prolong this, I know what you all want"-the viewers groaned in agony- "tomorrows fights will be:"

And like the day before, names flashed over the screens:

"The first fight will be: UZUMAKI BOLT VS HATTORI MORI!"

Sarada already heard Bolt inside her head: "This mothafucka is going doooooooooooooown!" She rolled her eyes.

"SAKERU IZURU VS NARA SHIKADAI!"

"MEIJO SETSUNA VS PRINCE SHIZUMASA!"

"HOUZUKI SUIHI VS CHITSUKI HAKUBA! And with this I wish you a wonderful night!"

Sarada took the announcer by his word. She bowed to her teacher and ran almost into Hanare on the way out. Waiting for her mother was pointless (depending on Chocho's condition Sakura would stay with her the whole night after the surgery or go home to her hotel). Therefore she headed straight to the part within the arena that held the participants' quarters. Luckily there weren't many people around as she reached her door. But right before she could open it, someone called out for her.

"Hey four-eyes!"

"Didn't I tell you to never call me that again," Sarada backed away from her door and faced Bolt.

The blonde boy was leaning on the wall, grinning at the girl, "I heard you won your match?"

"Yeah, what of it."

"You beat up a crying little boy?"

"He wasn't crying so much during the match. He… tried his best. What do you really want," Sarada sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Bolt stood up straight, leaving his comfortable spot on the wall.

"You beat up your best friend and…" he licked his lips, "I wanted to catch you before and searched for you and… I heard what he said when you left his room."

Sarada looked to the ground, "what do you want? I'm tired and I don't have time for this. Why were you down there anyways?"

"I heard you won and… I wanted to congratulate you..?" The boy looked uncomfortable. "Hey I didn't want to hear that!"

"Why did you bring that up now," Sarada got angry, "it doesn't affect you! It's none of your business! Get lost!"

"Hey," now it was Bolt's turn to get angry, "I just wanted to be a good friend and ask you if you are alright! What's wrong with that?"

"Timing Bolt! Timing," she hissed back.

"So do you like him?!"

"What the-"Sarada stopped midsentence.

It took them both a second to comprehend what Bolt had just asked. They had been talking about how Inojin had confessed he loved Sarada and the next minute Bolt had asked if she liked him back? Simultaneously, both of them turned tomato red, but it was Sarada, who regained her composure first.

"…what kind of level of stupid did you reach just now?! This question is so stupid, you should win an award for the most stupid question ever!"

"I just wanted to be a good friend that cares about you!"

"Thanks but no," she shouted at him, "I don't need your condolences now!" And with that, she opened the door to her room and slammed it shut, turning the key on the inside.

"I JUST WANTED TO BE NICE!" Bolt punched the door angrily and made his way down the corridor, to his own room.

* * *

The next morning came fast.

Bolt tried to avoid Sarada at all costs. He sent his roommate out first, looking out for the girl and did all he could to stay away from her. He had really just tried to be nice and messed up greatly. Without even knowing. Girls were so complicated…

Suddenly somebody tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Good morning Bolt," he turned around and met his mother's smiling face, "did you sleep well?"

"Morning mum," he mumbled, still lamenting over his choice of words the other day, "I'm ok…"

"I have lunch for you," Hinata pulled a small box out of her bag and handed it to him. The boy smiled, "are you going to watch me, mum? Where is dad?"

"Your dad is having a talk with your sister. You know, she is not happy with having graduated but not being an official genin yet. She threw a tantrum yesterday and now your dad is the one who will have to get her in line again," the mother explained, "he won't be watching… but I will! Isn't that great too?"

"Yeah… Yeah of course." Bolt had a hard time hiding his disappointment. Hadn't his dad just yesterday trained with him? Even if it had been just an hour, the boy wished he could have scheduled that hour for today. He wanted to show his dad what progress he had made in these last months.

The announcer went back on stage and welcomed the (still assembling) crowd back for day two.

"I gotta go mum. My fight's the first one," he gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and ran down the hallway, skipping over the stairs into the basement like a pro.

* * *

Hinata had reserved a seat in the public area. She would have felt very lonely in the actual lounge, that was reserved for her family and with this, she could join her old team members Shino and Kiba. Usually neither of them would have had time to watch the exams, but Kiba just had a very hard year:

First his best friend Akamaru died from a kidney failure and the man hadn't taken it lightly. Even for a ninja dog, Akamaru had lived a very long life, but finally losing him, hurt Kiba quite a lot. And when his cat loving girlfriend told him that everything had an end "even such a lame dog", Kiba lost it. After a month-long, harsh fight over how Akamaru had never been just a dog, he had separated from his girlfriend. It hadn't been pretty. The next what happened was, that Kiba started lamenting about how his life sucked.

He had lost his best friend, his girlfriend, he didn't have any kids and he hadn't become Hokage either. One morning Hinata had visited him and found an unshaven man, who smelled like he hadn't seen a shower in weeks and probably just recently spilled a beer over his bare chest, not caring that he was all sticky now.

That day, his old teammates decided to finally get him into a different mood. It had been their old teacher's idea to get cards for the chunin exams though.

He was now lingering in a plastic chair next to Shino.

"Wow you are finally here too," he glanced over at Hinata, who sat down on Shino's other side.

"Did I miss something out," she asked and smiled at him. But Kiba just took a sip from his beer can.

"Na it's just starting now… Let's see what your kid can do…"

Shino put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and shook his head. Hopeless.

* * *

Bolt was in position. He stood on the platform that would raise him into the arena in just a minute. Who his opponent was? He had no clue. But he could care less. Bolt was totally pumped for this fight!

Finally the platform began to rise, turning in itself. The sunlight blinded the boy and it took him a second to recognize where he was:

This time the arena was a mix of green to yellow marshlands, with open waters. Bolt knew that he had to be careful, since he could always sink in and stuff.

"What are you looking at," a voice from in front of him taunted. Bolt looked up and gazed upon his opponent. It was a boy, maybe a year younger than Bolt himself. He wore a Sunagakure headband, a hat and brown cloak. He opened two scrolls, making two figures pop out.

"Have you ever fought someone like me," he asked, packed the scrolls away and waved his hands. Suddenly the two figures started to move according to his hands. Bolt was impressed.

"To be true, no! But who cares about that! You are a puppet user, aren't you? I know exactly how to deal with you," he grinned and jumped into the air.

The boy called Mori was the same: He had a cocky grin on his face and jumped backwards, "well let's see!"

Bolt studied the surroundings. There were some footholds that he could land on, as long as he remembered where exactly. To be true: Bolt had no clue about how to defeat a puppet user. But if he got a hold of him with his chains, he would be able to smash that Mori guy against the arena walls until he was unconscious, right? That should do the trick, Bolt thought and threw some kunai at the spots, to mark them.

However, that Mori guy was a lot tougher than Bolt had thought he would be. The puppeteer watched Bolt just as closely as Bolt had watched him. A move of his fingers sent the first puppet after Bolt. In a zick-zack course it followed after the blonde boy, shooting kunai from its spread open jaw.

Bolt avoided them with ease, waved a hand and sent a strong chain at the puppet. At first it got around it, but then Bolt caught it.

"Gotcha," he grinned and pulled the chain aside to face the puppeteer. But as I already stated: Mori wasn't stupid. He made waved his second hand, moved two fingers up and down, sending the other puppet at the blonde.

Bolt reacted immediately. He turned towards the second puppet, sure that the other one was unable to move and used his free hand, to shoot a second chain at the now attacking puppet, catching it too.

"Don't tell me that's it," Bolt yelled at his opponent, getting ready to destroy the puppets by bashing them at the arena walls, just like he had planned to do with Mori later on.

Mori though, was now grinning himself: "Yeah I'm totally done!" With a big movement he crossed his arms, making his hands into fists. Bolt didn't get at first what Mori had planned, but when his chains were shaking, he finally looked back at his captives:

They had started spinning rapidly. This wouldn't have done much, if they weren't already chained up tightly. Thanks to the rotation, the chains started to get coiled around the puppets.

At first Bolt's arms got stretched. When he couldn't stretch anymore without it hurting, the puppets came twisting at the blonde boy.

He was kind of in panic, sweating like crazy: what should he do? There was nothing in his head at the moment.

Outstanders might have said, that he could have simply dissolved the chains and jumped away, or he could have simply made the chains as long as needed. But Bolt was in panic, his head was a white paper – seemingly.

"Oh my gosh! OMYGOSH," he screamed in panic as the puppets were quickly closing in.

Mori was moving. His face showed a triumphing grin as the puppets finally reached the Uzumaki, crushing him in-between them.

"Hahahaha I won! I won this match," Mori yelled, absolutely sure of his victory. He held up his hands and waited for the sound barrier to be lifted, to claim his cheers. 'The victorious puppeteer of Sunagakure, who would win everything and make his hometown proud.' Yes, that sounded good in his mind.

But the barrier wasn't getting lifted.

"You know, this is kind of sad to look at," someone from behind him stated. Mori turned around.

Bolt was standing on a dry spot in between the swampy ground, playing around with one of his previously thrown kunai.

"How-how… how come you are standing there?!" Mori's mouth opened wide, his eyes almost popped out – he was speechless. What the heck happened there? Hadn't he just crushed his enemy with his puppets?

Yes his puppets! Mori waved his hands, but all that came up were two or three parts – Since Bolt hadn't been in between, the puppets had rushed right into each other, leaving only pieces.

"If this wasn't an exam," Bolt let the kunai fall to the ground, "I would actually pity you. Please give up now."

"The heck no," Mori stomped angrily on the ground, "what are you-"

Bolt hit Mori with his fist, making the other one fly backwards a little. Mori was quickly back on his feet, to repay Bolt with a kick. Bolt pulled up his leg and blocked. The blonde went back a step and did a kick himself.

They couldn't hear it, but the crowd was whispering in awe. The previous day, there had been some really good fights, but this one right now, was what they actually had been looking forward to: Plain and simple hand to hand combat. After a minute or so, the crowd got excited again. The people were cheering, clapping and some of them started to hit their drums.

Bolt didn't hear them, thanks to the protective shield. But he felt the enthusiasm of the crowd. He landed one final punch, Mori fell over, the clock beeped ten times, they lifted the protective shield-

Bolt had one his first battle.

The crowd was cheering, clapping and roaring. He put up his arms and took in his applause.

Did you see me dad, he thought, I'll go straight to the top!

End of Chapter 19

* * *

**_Hello my dear readers!_**

_How are you doing? I hope you are well! Sorry for the delay, my projects are killing me right now. _

_I wanted to give Bolt some screentime! I mean, he almost didn't show up during the last few chapters! And well yes - he has gotten a lot stronger! He did not only get faster but also learned a new technique with Konohamaru's help. He already used it here - can you guess? His opponent was quite weak actually. He was in a team with Saeko - speaking of Saeko Sabakuno. This girl more or less did to Chocho what her father did to Lee in the first part of the Naruto manga. She is very strong and as some have already noticed: Bolt is her target... I like her already!  
And yes, I gave Kiba and Shino more screentime than Hotaru, Ako and Momoka. But don't worry: Together with Konohamaru they will be in the next chapter!_

_Concerning chapter 2 and 3 of Naruto Gaiden: I really like Gaiden. It's quite different, but I like the way Kishimoto is trolling all his readers.  
But I have one small request to make - please stop hating! I read tweets - hating on Hinata for having cut her hair short, how Bolt and Himawari are ugly... I don't know who the writers are. But hating on something, doesn't make your OTP happen. NaruSaku didn't happen, I'm sorry. But please don't hate on Kishimoto for it, or any of the other fans.  
In the end (and the younger me is already hating me for writing this), Naruto is just a manga. It's a story. A fairytail. And it's not worth hurting other peoples feelings about it... _

_That's it from me this week!_**_  
Since my university projects are all coming to an end right now, _there won't be a chapter on May the 21th! The story will resume on the 28th! _  
_**_Sorry for this...__ I am already working on a summer special for you guys, to make it up to you!_

_Hope you are having a great weekend! After I just started watching Dragonball Kai, I should probably go back studying or I won't get anything done tonight...  
Take care!  
_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you all very much for the feedback! In freaking need it :3 You are awesome!_

_**Guest A:** Thank you very much for the kind review! Hope, you stay tuned for the next chapters! :3_

_**Guest B:** I feel honored. Thank you very much! I always give my best and honestly: I have not yet read any other new gen fics. I don't want to take away ideas from them and stufff . It's my pleasure to entertain you on a weekly basis! Thank you very much and I hope to see you soon again!  
_

_**Rdk3:** THX for the review! I actually suck at choreographing fights (Botl vs Mori is an example). I always have to listen to some awesome music and the choreography flows, but ooooh maaaaaaan - I want it to be awesome, but not too revealing... not an easy job :) Maybe a love triangle? Maybe not? The future... the future... is dark and full of spoilers... Oh I can Sarada in Naruto Gaiden understand! I was the same her age and therefore, I know almost exactly what she is going through. I just wonder why Sakura never told her daughter about the circumstances of her birth? My personal theory is, that the guy with the unhealty looking eye kidnapped pregnant Sakura and wanted to take the child for himself after it was born. Sasuke got to rescue her, but not after Sarada was already on the world - which would mean that Sarada hasn't been born in Konoha. But that's just me... Thanks again and I hope to see you soon!_

_**Guest C:** Naaaaah Sarada doesn't hate Inojin. She is just hurt and pissed. She is a girl, probably on her period and BOOM you got her slamming you against the wall. Like any other day ;) -just kidding- Thank you for coming back to my story! I am happy if you liked it! Hope to see you again sometime around here!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld:** Thank you for the review! I meant foot. Even though "food" would have been quite funny XDD With Inojin.. a young, desperate boy trying to fix the mess he made... poor guy . Sorry for the long wait for that match... But I want it to be awesome! I hope you liked this chapter too! Please stay tuned for teh next one! See you!  
_

_**ropertfree72:** I'd say Bolt did quite well, didn't he? ;) Thank you for the review!  
_

_**818carlos:** Thank you very much for the kind review! As I already said before: I suck at choreographing fights. But I wanted it to be cool and the version that came out, was the most obvious - but awesome one :D Thank you for the praise though. But I don't know what you mean with "wholesale stomp"... sorry . And as I already wrote you in a PM: Don't worry! Thank you very much for the review! I hope you stay tuned and actually: It's kind of a habbit of mine to answer the reviews... I think you guys deserve to get an answer! Your Usagi_

_**streetplaa-cruz:** aaaaand thanks to you I dug out my old Eminem CD's... I hope you were alright though! Thank you very much for the kind review! Hope to see you soon - Your Usagi  
_

_**dark princess:** Thanks for the review! I'm happy to read that you liked the chapter :3 I just hope it didn't hinder you in your daily life ;) To your question: The others didn't participate! Saeko and Tadashi are a year younger, they hadn't even graduated yet, and the Ino-Shika-Cho team's teacher didn't think they could handle the exam! Ako sent her team in because she was sure they could have made it - and they could have. But then there were these three shitheads... I should watch my language.. Sorry! I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter! Your Usagi  
_


	22. Chapter 20: The Watchers on the Ranks

Chapter 20: The Watchers on the Ranks  


Some freaky pop music echoed through the arena. Somehow the hosts had to keep the audience patient and happy at the same time, while they were changing the overall look of the fighting pit.

When a nicely paced song came on, Momoka tapped Hotaru on the arm, "oh I love this song! Have you seen the movie they put it in?"

"No, I'm sorry. But the song is nice," Hotaru smiled at her sadly.

"Oh not! I-I-I'm… I'm so sorry! It was in the cinema when you were still…" she looked down, onto her lap.

Momoka had been one of the first people to find out about Hotaru being awake: Wihout anybody noticing (except for the doctors), she had visited the boy on a weekly basis. Each Sunday, she would bring flowers and talk to the unconscious boy. She almost died from the shock, when he suddenly answered her questions after the second part of the chunin exams.

Ever since, she had been trying to cheer him up. She even swore to not tell any of his friends about his awakening. And Momoka kept her promise. Only when she found out about Hotaru's and Bolt's bet (about going on at least one date with each girl of their graduation class), she got a little angry. Or can you say angry with Momoka? She was probably surprised and disappointed at the same time. Blind of love, the girl had never expected her valiant, good looking Hotaru to make a bet like this. She had totally blocked out the fact, that he was Uzumaki Bolts best friend.

After hearing that he would watch the finale at the unity arena, Momoka had asked for permission to accompany him. Ever since, she hadn't left his side.

"It's ok," the green eyed boy said, trying to save the mood, "tell me about the movie. There is still time till the next fight – better: let's watch it sometime, ok?" Gosh, girls are so complicated, he thought, I miss the simple times with Sarada…

But he had managed to make the girls eyes sparkle with anticipation, "oh yes, please! So… do you want something to eat or drink before the next match starts? Can I bring you something?"

"You don't have to do everything for me," Hotaru tried to say, but she was already up.

"The floors are very crowded! You could hurt yourself. And I am so much faster alone. You like some coke and matcha ice cream, right?"

And she was already out of the handicapped box. Hotaru didn't even have time to pick up his crutches.

Momonka carefully made her way through the rows of benches, avoiding the young girl who spat at every passing person (even though her mother tried to make her stop). At the door though, she almost ran into an adult.

With a deep red head, she mumbled: "I'm sorry…" and squeezed herself through the entrance.

Meanwhile, Hotaru took some deep breaths. The first day had been exhausting already. When he cheered for Sarada, Momoka looked like she was ready to go down and hit Sarada in the face. The cocoa skinned boy didn't understand her. Next was, that she almost fell unconscious when Chocho lost against Saeko. What Hotaru understood between her mumbling was, that Saeko had been the cause of her team failing the second test. And after seeing what the redhead was capable of, there was no doubt that the experience had been traumatizing.

"Hey hey," someone fell down onto Momoka's empty seat, "how are we feeling today?"

"Hello doctor Haruno," Hotaru answered. He gave Sakura a smile.

"How often do I have to tell you: just Sakura is alright," she took his wrist and looked at her watch, "enjoying the show, are we?" It was Sakura's daily routine to check his overall condition. If she didn't, his parents would probably sue her, resulting in the best medic ninja of the world, losing her license. Why take a risk, if it only took ten minutes to check on the boy?

"It's quite nice. Bolt just won his match. If they keep it up, I'm sure he is going to meet Sarada in the finale."

"You think so? Good," Sakura nodded. His pulse was alright. Maybe a little higher than usual because of excitement, "so… who do you root for? I mean, only one can win."

"I am rooting for both of them," Hotaru grinned, "I mean, only two Konoha participants are going to be chunin after this exam. And it's highly unlikely, that two of the same team get promoted. Therefore: the one who loses this time, has to train with me till next year."

Sakura laughed at the comment, "You really have a talent to make the best of a bad situation." She waved her hand in front of his face, checked his ears, fingers and knee reflexes.

"Looks like you are all good for today. Congrats! If you go on like this, you could be completely healthy in three months," the pinkette patted him on the head.

"Thanks, but I already feel pretty awesome. As soon as I can walk without my crutches, I'll restart my training! I can't stay behind my friends, can I?"

"If I ever catch you training until I officially allowed you to," Sakura stood up, "I'll break your legs myself to keep you in bed."

"Aaaaahahahahahah… yeah probably." I'll just never get caught by you. That's how simple it is…

Sakura had already turned to leave, when Hotaru remembered a very important question:

"Uhm… Doctor Haruno?"

"It's Sakura, dearie."

"How is Chocho doing?"

"She'll be fine. Just some rest and a wheelchair for the next two weeks and she'll be as good as new," Sakura winked.

At the door, she helped Momoka get in. The little girl had brought a big cup matcha ice-cream and two cups with cola. Her hands were full, so she had a hard time opening the heavy door. It reminded Sakura of herself, when she was younger. When her teammate had been ill once, she had visited him daily and cut some apples for him. Momoka acted a lot like her back then.

Maybe there's going to be more than awkward stares in the future, Sakura wondered, slowly closing the door.

* * *

From the handicapped box, you could see everything in the arena. The only seats higher, were the ones on the opposite side: The VIP boxes. A lot of people had been discussing who 'Prince Shizumasa' was. When a huge group of security guards entered the arena this morning, the secret had been lifted:

With two guards on each side, servants and flag bearers, the eldest son of the fire country's Daimyo entered the VIP box:

Crown prince Murasaki was a lean man in his late 40s. He had a high forehead, but otherwise pitch black hair, white skin (probably because he never left the castle) and, like every member of the royal family, black eyebrow-dots. His face seemed rock hard, as if someone had hammered the one expression he always wore in there. His lips were two thin lines, the brows always slightly wrinkled, as if he was comprehending, if his opponent was worth talking to. He would have looked like a very strict, life-sized father puppet, if it hadn't been for his eyes. Two blue, almost white, pupils were hushing around in his eye sockets. Only this feature was enough to make everyone around him treat him correct. With one look, he could say "You are not worth my presence". And everybody agreed with him.

Still: He was the eldest child of the countries leader, but because of his father's long life and especially good mind, a lot of people called him 'the eternal prince'. Most people wondered if his father simply refused to die and pass on the title to his eldest son, because he had a strange kind of humor or something. It was said, that the youngest prince was a much better choice – especially since prince Murasaki had been married for almost 20 years and still had no children with his wife. The second prince had abdicated all his titles years ago – which would make the late arrival prince Shizumasa, the better candidate for the throne.

But of course, neither Shizumasa, nor Murasaki had any idea what the small folks were talking about all the time. The crown prince hadn't come to talk to the people he ruled over. He had come to watch his younger brother battle for a place in his personal guard, consisting of only first class jonin.

Pretty bored of the fights already, he let his eyes roam the arena, "how long until the match starts."

"Pardon my prince," a servant answered, his nose almost touching his tights, "there is only one more fight scheduled before prince Shizumasa will take the win-"

"This won't do," Murasaki waved a hand, "go tell the man in charge that I want Shizumasa to fight now."

"Of course my lord. I will see what I can do." The servant got back up after bowing and left the VIP box.

"Huh…" the crown prince sighed, "this bores me…"

"IF IT BORES YOU SO MUCH: GO HOME SUCKER!" Someone shouted.

"Who dares to defy our crown prince?!" The servants ran up to the railing. The prince only chuckled. But the caller couldn't be seen in the crowd.

"YOU BIG MUBMSLDFJGBK-"

The rest of the words were just mumble. A hand had quickly been put over her mouth. The owner of the hand pulled her down.

"Tell me are you mad," Konohamaru looked at the angry Ako, who was trying to break free, by biting his fingers. His eyes were wide, almost screaming 'are you freaking crazy or what'.

"Thank god Konohamaru…" Hanare had crouched down with her two friends. She was sweating like crazy.

"I just hate these super trooper lordlings! No wonder Shizumasa is one arrogant little bitch if his big brother behaves like this!"

Ako had finally managed to tear the man's hand away from over her mouth.

"I don't think they spotted us…" Slowly they resurfaced.

"If you even think about yelling again-"

"Yeah I got it," the teacher threw her long red-black hair back, "I won't tell him what he is ever again. Promise."

Konohamaru and Hanare exchanged some looks. After this day, they wanted to go drinking together – not a good idea if Ako wasn't in a good mood. And she wasn't in a good mood at all…

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer was back, "the arena has been prepared! Please enjoy our next fight! SAKERU IZURU VS NARA SHIKADAI!"

"Yeah go for it! See?! Just because you wish you don't get your little bro pushed forward! Badum tsss," Ako cheered, playing an invisible drum set. Her friends shook their heads.

* * *

"Oh look! It's Shikadai," Hotaru gripped the railing and leaned forward a little bit. Momoka hesitantly tried to pull him back, but the boy had a tight grip. He wanted to see how strong Shikadai had become. Inojin had lost to Sarada – Hotaru was proud of the girl for that; and Chocho had lost to Saeko –in one of the most horrible ways possible…

His opponent was the blonde guy from Sunagakure with the kunai shaped earrings. Hotaru couldn't see if he was wearing them today though. Looking through the exams magazine, he found the page describing the blonde. It said he was a taijutsu specialist from Sunagakure, with the ability of the 'third eye'. Otherwise the magazine didn't say anything about him. The lower part of the page was filled by a big Kyuuketsu Juices ad.

In the western part of the arena, the hardcore Sunagakure fans had gotten all the places. Everybody over there was dressed in yellow today, except for some who wore black. If you looked at it from further away, the black on yellow formed the Sunagakure symbol. They had even brought their own drummer, to support their singing choirs.

This match was very special for them: A "pure" Sunagakure ninja vs the son of the best kunoichi, Sunagakure had ever had. Therefore the group was internally split on who should win and there had been some harsh bar fights the night before (though not as harsh as fights among Kumogakure fans and the rest of the participating villages) about the topic. Just this morning they had agreed on simply cheering for Sunagakure. That way, everybody could cheer on their favorite without getting somebody else angry.

Thought the participants couldn't hear the cheers, they saw their fans dancing on the ranks. Shikadai just shook his head, Izuru raised a fist towards his friends with a smile.

The battle itself was quite short:

Shikadai blocked all of Izurus attacks, but couldn't land a hit himself. He simply dodged and tried to connect his shadow, but it didn't work. The blonde had him already pinned to the ground, a weapon on his throat, when Shikadai pulled an ace from his sleeve:

His shadow peeled of the ground, wrapped around the enemy and threw him half through the fighting pit. It was nothing special this time, just stone ground – but when Izuru hit it, he got bruised. After this move, the fight got quicker and more intense. Shikadai stopped blocking and attacked with his shadow. He even pierced the other guy two times.

But Izuru got pissed. His hands formed 'peace' sings, he held them at his forehead and a blinding flash of light washed over the arena. The whole audience had to look away, Shikadai wasn't quick enough. He got blinded by the light and his shadow vanished for a split second.

This was all Izuru needed to pin him against the wall and win.

Hotaru was laughing when he saw Shikadai shrug. He was still the same guy as ever. The two participants shook hands before Izuru was declared winner.

"So… the next fight is your replacement against whom again? It was a woman right," Momoka took a sip from her coke. Hotaru slumped back onto his seat.

"It's Mejo Setsuna," he showed Momoka the magazine page. The picture was of a girl with long greenish black hair, dark green eyes and a shy posture, as if she wasn't too convinced of pictures.

"She looks nice," Momoka stated, "see: she even got the 'most romantic moment'. I bet she is very kind and caring-"

"No she is not… She is the exact opposite…"

"How do you know..?"

"hmmm" he couldn't tell her that his team had lost to hers once, could he? "Just a flinch... nothing else… But I am rooting for Shizumasa anyway!" He smiled at Momoka, making her blush.

* * *

The arena was being changed again. The viewers went to get food and drinks – the mood was very good – if it would have been summer, everybody would be sweating like crazy. Which was the actual reason to hold the exam in spring.

Konohamaru opened a beer can. This day was just exhausting. Ako had been hyped all day, even screaming at the crown prince – and he was in the middle of all the ruckus. Not that he minded being close to her. But with Hanara on the one side and Ako hyper for her students' performance, it wasn't really what he had imagined.

Right now the two women were up, getting themselves some crêpe with chocolate and ice cream.

When the arena had finally be remodeled, everybody was back on their seats, pumped for what was coming.

"I want to see him kick her butt," Ako stated. She looked at her crêpe and took a big bite out of it, "after all she is the one of those who hurt my little babies last year!"

"Yeah… if you cold please stop calling those three your 'babies'?"

"Oh shut up you two! It's starting!" Hanare pointed down into the arena.

* * *

Shizumasa quickly took in the surrounding. It looked like a medieval mountain village:

The arena walls showed huge mountains in the 'distance', connecting to the arena through paths. All around them, were small stone houses. It looked like someone had just left everything and ran away with their cattle – heck they even included stinking dung. It was the most detailed surrounding yet.

He had equipped himself with his sword Honjo Masamune and wore the royal army's battle armor. Well, at least a light version of it. His long white hair was pulled back in a high ponytail like always, but with the royal crest, crown like on the base of it.

"So you are a prince, right?" A high voice asked from in front of him. Shizumasa looked down onto the short woman. "And you are a friend of these losers my team beat up last year, right?"

"I'd call it a… partnership of convenience. What do you want?" She didn't interest him at all. With quick eyes he was searching the crowd for the VIP box where his brother should be. All that mattered, was that Murasaki was watching.

"It was their fault that my team lost last year," she took her fighting stance, "and I'll make these fuckers pay!"

Shizumasa turned back to her with a grin on his face, "sounds like they were the ones beating up you! And I may not consider them my friends, but stop insulting my comrades!"

And they rushed towards each other.

End of Chapter 20

* * *

**_Here we are again! :D_**

_I hope you are doing well! I'm through with my projects for uni and the story is going on :3 When I was writing the chapter, I was enjoying a good cold beer, nice summer music (I can recommend Culcha Candela!)... It feels so good to have handed in everything... Just two exams and a peresentation left - well, if I don't count my thesis.  
_

_With this chapter I cracked 100 pages in my word document!_

_With the mini special, I tried to give you at least something instead of nothing... ^^" sorry. Actually it's a small part of the upcoming summer special that I'm writing right now. I hope you liked it :)  
And here you go guys: a chapter with lots of Hotaru and Momoka. And Ako. Yes, I think she is drunk. ahahahahaha XD With Shikadais really short fighting part - he is more ambitious than his father, mostly because his mother knows how to motivate him perfectly ;) And you finally met the eternal prince Murasaki... He is going to be important later. Keep him in mind please!  
_

_Concerning Naruto Gaiden... I do pity Sarada. But if you think about it, her parents are probably just doing what they think is right for the ninja world. And millions of peoples lifes seem to be more important than watching your daughter grow up... I have my own theories, but here's not the place for them.  
I can only recommend you to go to my Twitter! I'm posting there if the new chapter is delayed, minor spoiler for Finding Papa, Naruto Gaiden theories by me - but also a lot of actual spoilers! You have been warned!  
And with a look at the new Naruto Gaiden chapter, I decided to start revealing the character songs I picked. Each of my characters has two! _

_Thanks again for reading this chapter of Finding Papa! What are your thoughts? Please leave a review or let me know what you think some other way! I appreciate your feedback :)_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Character Songs:_**

_Sarada Uchiha:_

_~Christina Perri - Jar of hearts (that's how I felt when I read her speech in Gaiden 5...)_

_~Fall Out Boy - My songs know what you did in the dark (because the songs just as awesome as she is. And she is freaking lighting up the world!)_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thanks again for all the support you guys give me! You are awesome!_

_**SoundlessWorld**: I'm sorry to have worried you :) It wasn't intentional... I just sometimes need longer to update because I'm not perfectly happy with the way a chapter turned out. Or I'm just simply not done yet XD One thing I really learned is, that you have to appreciate your readers. They read your stories - on their own free will! And that alone makes them amazing :) And don't worry about me: I'm quite good at Thaiboxing and I love using chairs to beat up idiots ;) - Yeah, Hotaru hasn't appeared often yet, but he is quite popular amongst the readers. I'm quite happy about that! And with Bolt... poor boy.. Really... But it wasn't his last fight and Naruto will have plenty of opportunities left to cheer for his son :) And I'm sorry for the break... Thank you for the review! Take care and see you next week! Your Usagi_

_**ropertfree72**: I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry for that. But I don't want people to hate on each other because of how the story went on. Thank you for the review! :)_

_**streetplaa-cruz**: Actually, there is a special by Kishimoto called "Book of Thunder" in which Akamaru tells the audience about Kiba :) Just google it! It's quite nice. I took it as a basis for... "my version" of how it went? I like giving all characters backgrounds! Thank you very much for the praise and the review! Plz stay tuned for next week! I won't let you down ;) Your Usagi  
P.S. Yes I am watching his reviews! I actually like them a lot. But this week I didn't before I updated :D  
_

_**KarliCM**: Thank you a lot for the review! It's nice to see someone getting worked up about my story :3 makes me a little proud of myself . Thank you and hopefully see you next week again!_

_**Guest**: thank you for the review! I persnally find Mitsuki... suspicious. But anyways! Hope to see you again! :D_

_**dark princess:** Hmmm a highschool one? American or Japanese Highschool? Right now I am working on a Shisui one shot. Maybe when I'm done with that one? THX and see you next week :3_

_**eren x mikasa**: Thank you for the review! Hating on others because they have other wishes, interests... hating in general is bad. And with that instagram girl... I forgot to moderate your review and please don't post usernames of people you don't like here. I can understand that you are upset from what this girl writes and posts on instagram, but by blackmailing her here, you are hating on her, just as much as she is hating on SasuSaku... I'm sorry :/ Maybe just should unfollow her on instagram? These people usually just want attention and someone to start a fight with... trust me, it's not worth it. But thank you very much for reading "Finding Papa" and the review! Please take care and I hope to see you next week again :) Your Usagi_

_** 818carlos**: Hey there! Thank you very much! That's quite a long review - I am right now writing the answer, but I will send it to you as a PM ok? Thank you very much :)_


	23. Chapter 21: Fist vs Blade

Chapter 21: Fist vs Blade

The sun shone almost directly onto the clear surface of the lake. After a group of "volunteers" had cleaned up the shores, cut the climbing plants below the surface and caught the snapping turtle, someone had set free in it, the lake was now a perfect bathing opportunity for those who got too hot, watching the exams. Families with little children were playing on the pebble beach. Sarada watched a father, who tried to teach his daughter how to swim. The little girl was screaming and splashing around, afraid to sink. Her father assured her that nothing was going to happen to her that he would hold her up, as long as needed. Slowly the screams died, as she started to trust him.

Sarada smiled. The family was just too cute to not smile at. Just a group of regular people, with the regular problems of a regular life. She got up from her make shift towel (her jacket), got her things and turned back, towards the unity arena. It wasn't far away. The crowd was cheering for someone fighting. Sarada wondered. Who would they cheer for so much? Either it was a celebrity or a very good fight going on…

But Sarada wouldn't go and watch it. Bolt hadn't shown up for her fight – and she respected his choice. Though she was still slightly angry with him. Ok in the end… he had just wanted to help her the other day… Instead of the arena, Sarada headed over to the training grounds.

* * *

The first so beautiful landscape was destroyed. Only dust and some random bricks were left over from the village. The fight was epic: Shizumasa (a strong sword user) versus Setsuna (a fist fighter). Both of them were fighting on a close range, but neither of them had the upper hand.

Setsuna had to jump over Shizumasa's swinging blade, just barely avoiding it most of the time. The second he was not attacking, she took her chances and threw punches at him – literally. She had an air affinity and every time her fist shot forward, she moved the air. It would create a strong gust of wind, which canon like shot towards Shizumasa. Since she "shot" from a close range, he was able to avoid these by ducking or jumping aside. But these dodged were the reason most of the small houses had been blasted into bits and pieces.

Shizumasa couldn't make his sword swings fly. He had to stick close to her, to finally land a clean strike with Honjo Masamune. The sword was heavy and long. He wouldn't be able to hold up his speed forever. But how to defeat her? At least she was dumb enough to not realize, that she could do a lot more damage from a distance.

While he was still pondering, Setsuna had jumped onto the arena wall, pushed off and now came flying at him from above.

"Take this," she yelled and started punching the air very fast.

The white haired lordling saw the attack coming, but there was nowhere to run. He gritted his teeth and started swinging his sword above his head. A buzzing sound around the blade made it clear, that he had started the flying swallow on the blade and as the air punches finally reached him, they got repelled away from the chakra coat on the metal.

Setsuna fell onto her hands, did a flick flack and landed catlike her four limps.

"How did you do that? Really! You are getting on my nerves!"

The boy had lowered the blade, ready to attack, "how about you just admit to yourself that I am good." He held the weapon with both hands and ran towards her.

"The only one," she whispered to herself, "to ever cool me down was Kisa… the only one to ever defeat me was Kisa. And he cannot watch me now because some fucker hurt him… I am the only one to hurt Kisa," she yelled as Shizumasa quickly approached her, "AND YOU AND YOUR GROUP WILL PAY!"

She put up her fists against Shizumasa, ready to fight for the win – but he was gone. While she was still wondering, where to. Shizumasa reappeared behind her. Before Setsuna could comprehend the situation and react accordingly, she felt cold metal on her head.

Shizumasa had used the blade like a baseball bat. She stumbled a little on her feet, tried to land a punch midair and finally fell over unconscious.

The sound barrier was lifted and the winner declared.

Shizumasa sheathed his sword. He had a smug grin on his face, as his eyes skimmed over the audience. Finally he found the VIP box.

His big brother stood at the railing, looking down to him. Cold blue eyes met Shizumasa's anxious ones. Did he finally do it? Did he impress him enough to be taken in? For some very long seconds, nothing happened.

Then, his brother slowly lowered his head. A nod of approval. Shizumasa didn't need more.

Two medics ran up to Setsuna, but she didn't need them. As she awoke five minutes later in the medical department, she jumped straight off the bed. The furious ninja had to be sedated. She would have smashed the interior into pieces otherwise.

But Shizumasa didn't hear her rant. He had met up with Bolt at the showers and they made their way up to a small balcony high on the arena walls, where the participants were allowed to watch.

"You did well."

Bolt was surprised to be praised by Shizumasa. At first he looked at the white haired teen with big eyes, but soon his surprised face turned into a big grin.

"Congrats on advancing as well," he rubbed his nose, "must have been hard against this Setsuna girl."

"She was always talking. So she didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing."

"She is a bitch."

"That's what she called you guys."

As they reached the balcony, the next fight had already started. Houzuki Suihi, Sarada's white haired roommate, was fighting her teammate Chitsuki Hakuba. Surprisingly, this was the first fight between teammates. The participants looked interesting: the girl with the two eye colors was wielding two rare, archaic Kiriha Zukuri blades, while her teammate handled one big, heavy looking sword. It was rumored, that their team was one of seven Kirigakure teams, in which each team member was being trained to one day replace a fighter of the seven swordsmen of the mist.

But while the crowd was totally into the fight, Bolt and Shizumasa went on chatting about what happened in Bolt's first attempt to become a chunin. At first he hadn't wanted to tell the lordling, but after all he had just beat Meijo Setsuna – the woman most responsible for their failure. Bolt finally started to view Shizumasa as a team member. And as a friend.

* * *

The fight was over all too quickly. In a virtuous blade dance, Suihi disarmed her friend and he gave up. She may looked strange, but her fighting skills were almost perfect. Hakuba admitted his defeat and they hugged in the middle of the battlefield.

The preliminaries were finally over and like on the evening of the opening ceremony, all succeeding participants gathered atop the slowly spinning platform in the middle of the arena.

While the last fight hadn't lasted long, it had lasted long enough. The sun had set some minutes ago and the lighting had been put on again.

With a huge grin, the announcer put the mic to his lips:

"Congratulations to all of you," his voice echoed through the stadium. The crowd started to cheer. Somewhere on the ranks, Kiba nudged at Hinata: "Your son is not bad. Not bad at all." She smiled happily, "thank you Kiba-kun."

The announcer waited until the crowd had calmed down a bit, "yes we love them all! You fought bravely – yes. But this was just the beginning! Who is hyped for the quarterfinals?!" Again the crowd started to roar.

Sarada just hoped this was all over soon. She was tired from being out in the sun all day and her mother had just messaged her, if she wanted to join her and some others for evening activities. Whatever that may be…

"Before we announce the pairings for the quarterfinal, I would like to share the schedule for the next two days with you," the screens switched from screensaver to a chart, "tomorrow will be out participant's day off, while we are repairing any damages in the arena. The stadium therefore will be closed off for anybody but the participants and staff. Please enjoy all our free time activities, brought to you by-"the logos of the three big sponsors flashed over the screens "-and please be back for the village introductions the day after tomorrow! The parade, musical parts and everything will be exhilarating! And now, the thing you have all been waiting for: The fights of the quarterfinal. Please let's have s drum roll – can we practice the drum roll first," the announcer looked around in the arena. The camera focused on him, "every time before I announce a fight, I want everyone in the arena to do a drum roll, that gets as loud as you can when I have announced the pairings. Can we do it one time together?"

He held his arms down and anybody who had brought a drum to watch, quickly but carefully tapped their drums, until the moderator raised his arms and it ended with three deafening sounds as if thunder had just found a new rhythm.

"Aaah some of you remember from last year," the announcer was happy, "well let's start!" He pulled out his phone. The arena lighting got dimmed to make a more mystical atmosphere. Except for the drums, everyone was silent.

"…and the first fight will be-"the drumrolls slowly grew louder.

"From Amegakure and Konoha: KADAJ VS UCHIHA SARADA!" The two names flashed over the screens into the arena, he drums made their three big sounds and the audience cheered. This promised to be a good fight – Sarada hadn't shown her real potential yet and Kadaj was one master of the blade after all.

"Good luck to both of you… now back to the next pairing," he looked back down, "from Kirigakure and (again) Konohagakure: HOUZUKI SUIHI VS LORD SHIZUMASA!" Speaking of masters of the blade.

"Let's not waste time! The third battle will be... oh my! Both from Sunagakure and even one family: SABAKUNO TADASHI VS SABAKUNO SAEKO!"

The twins stood across from each other on the platform and were now glancing back at each other.

"And last but not least, the rather obvious pairing: From Konoha and Sunagakure: UZUMAKI BOLT VS SAKERU IZURU!"

Sarada could hear Bolt ask his neighbor "who?" She chuckled. Yes, that was Bolt.

The lights went back on and the announcer wished everybody a good night. The participants were taken down into the basement again, to be briefed for the upcoming days.

* * *

Slowly, the arena got empty. The second day of the third exam had been a blast too. Everyone was hyped and who wasn't sleepy, was making his/her way down to the festivities: on the market you could buy food from everywhere the participants came (Sunagakures famous mochi or the rice countries tea ceremony sweets) or play random games with little chance of winning (like classic goldfish fishing). But everybody enjoyed it, to cool down from watching this days matches. A small group of children from Keishi city were standing on the main street, some making classic matsuri music while the others were dancing on the street. It was just April, but it was already quite warm at night, so everyone who brought it, was wearing their summer kimono and geta.

Suihi helped Sarada get ready. The white haired girl was meeting with someone too, but didn't want to go to the festival. When she saw that Sarada would just let her hair down, she had to interfere:

"Hey, you have beautiful black hair! You need to use it to charm the world." Sarada blushed at these words a little and had to sit down on a chair and have her hair pinned up with flowery clips. Suihi also did her the favor of tying the big bow on the back of the yukata for her. She then shoved Sarada out of the room.

"Have fun!" The door slammed shut and left the Uchiha girl quite confused.

"What's with this girl," she murmured.

The halls and corridors were almost empty. Most of the people had already made their way down to the market. Sarada though was sure that she had to pry her mother away from work, so she took the stairs down to the medical department. When asked, one of the nurses on duty told her, that Sakura probably was still in a patient's room. There was only one light up. Sarada didn't even look at the name. She knocked and walked in.

The only person in the room was the patient. Chocho was laying in her bed, her legs heavily bandaged, reading a magazine.

"Oh I'm sorry Chocho. I thought my mum was here," Sarada was already halfway out of the door, when Chocho called her back.

"Hey Haruno – or is it Uchiha now?"

"I don't really care..?"

"Good," the dark skinned girl put down the magazine, "I saw you beat up Inojin yesterday." Sarada closed the door.

"And what of it…"

"I'm just… he told me about your talk afterwards and you know… I thought it would be appropriate if I apologized for all the mean things I said to him."

"Shouldn't you apologize to him instead of me," Sarada messed with one of the flower clips.

"He knew I didn't mean it. And since the cat's out of the bag… We decided to stop being… mean to you? Uhm… to him," she rubbed her face, "well we decided to stop trying to annoy you on purpose. And I thought... We maybe…"

Sarada was confused. Why should she care if these guys annoyed her anymore? She would just ignore it, now knowing it was fake anyways, "what do you want to say?"

"Maybe you could come with us to get some anmitsu, you know? Like… you are not so bad. Somebody had to wash Inojin's head at some point and you did a good job and… I thought we may try to become something like friends?"

"Oh that's what you mean…" Sarada was a little stunned, "why not?"

"Oh thank god! I thought I was next on your list…" Sarada had to giggle at the comment. Suddenly the door opened and she just jumped aside in time.

"Here you are," Sakura looked inside t the two children, "say goodnight to Chocho. Shall we get going? Wow who did your hair?" The pinkette caressed the flowery updo, "that wasn't your doing, was it?"

"No, my roommate thought it would be a good idea."

"You look beautiful… like very flowery… shrubbery…"

All three of them had to laugh. The Uchiha girls said goodbye to Chocho and searched for a way out of the arena's medical department.

"What do you think: shall we get some okonomiyaki and search for the Uzumaki's? They have a nice spot to watch the fireworks later."

"Ok sounds good!"

The market was wonderful. While Sakura and Hinata tried to entertain a quite pissed Bolt ("Why do I have to always fight strange guys from Sunagakure? That's not fair!"), Himawari showed Sarada her skills in catching goldfish and Naruto was nowhere to be found. But the Hokage was probably off somewhere, helping to organize the next few days.

Finally at around 10 the firework started. It was shot from the lake, therefore everybody had gathered at the pebble beach where Sarada had taken some time off the same day. Instead of the sunlight, the fireworks were now reflecting in her eyes. She smiled.

Nobody thought about looking around. If they had, they might have noticed the lonely figure on the other side of the lake. Suihi just stood there beneath the fireworks. She didn't even look at them.

"May the tides be with you," she whispered to herself, a sad look on her face, "and may the current guide you…"

End of chapter 21

* * *

**_My dear readers,_**

_I hope you are doing alright! Thank you for holding out till chapter 21! And yeah... an unnanounced break in between. To my defense: this is the third version of this chapter. I had to rewrite it over and over again, because it all needs to fit together and stuff. If something like this happens, I post it on Twitter! So if you want to, you can always have look at my profile there (you can find the link in my profile on ffnet). Or would you prefer if I'd start a facebook page where I would keep you guys updated, since I post a lot of spoilers on Twitter? _

_This chapter: Well, Shizumasa vs Setsuna. I wanted him to punch her in the face face. But since he is a sword fighter, that was out of question XD So he knocked her out with his blade. Good enough for me ;) Shizumasa kind of impressed Bolt with this fight. I think there might be a chance that they will get along. Well, as good as they can with their personalities being so different.  
What do you think about the fighting pairings? Anything you want to read for sure?  
And then there is the character of Suihi. She was one of the major changes in this chapter. In the first draft there was a lot more with her in it. The same goes for Shizumasa. There are things happening to these characters right now, that are important for the plot and I need to make everything fit in. Therefore I now have these three versions of the chapter, from three different perspectives...  
_

_Well, that's it for this chapter - no comments on Gaiden this week. Like really. Everybody calm down and remember: Kishimoto loves to see the world burn. (At least the Naruto fandom.)_

_See you all next week and probably this Sunday in "Our Dream" - I finished my classes and finally had time to digitalisize some chapters for it!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Character Songs:_**

_Bolt Uzumak:_

_~Fall Out Boy - Immortals_

_~Good Charlotte - Emotionless_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Even though I'm late: thank you for all your support, your questions and opinions! :D_

_**SoundlessWorld**: I know, almost no canon characters appearing makes it feel like we are back to Sora or how all these non-canon people are called... I hope you are alright? I know how I felt when I got my braces. But it'll get better. A lot better with time. Take care and sorry for the wait, your Usagi  
_

_**streetplaa-cruz**: Wouldn't it be kind of boring if all of Konoha was to win? No... no they are not all going to get through :D I want it a little realistic. It's like with the Z fighters: some die sooner, other later ;) XD THX for the review and stay tuned!  
_

_**dark princess**: No big :D Maybe I'll write a one shot or something. THX for the review!  
_

_**The Guest**: I have that feeling there is more suspicious in Gaiden then just Mitsuki... gosh Thursdays are a pain right now. Thank you for the review :3  
_


	24. Chapter 22: Usher

Chapter 22: Usher

8 years earlier…

It was raining heavily. Drops of rain fell down to earth, making everything wet, heavy and most humans unlikely to leave their homes for the next hours.

Wet from the rain, a little girl ran up the stairs to her home. She rang the bell, but no one answered. Again, she pushed the doorbell. Nothing

With shivering fingers, she searched for the spare key under the doormat and opened the door to her home. Everything was dark. It wasn't late, but storm clouds have the tendency to make night come faster. Thanks to a switch, the darkness was gone in an eye blink.

The little girl closed the door, put down her academy bag, got out of her shoes and upstairs, to change her wet clothes. In the kitchen she found a note from her mother:

'I'm sorry dear but there was an emergency! Dinner is in the fridge! I love you! Mama'

The girl sighed. They had planned to have a nice evening together. And some emergency had ruined it. Again. This happened far too often in her opinion. Especially tonight… tonight with the storm…

Opening the fridge released a cold blow and she got to work, warming up the food in the microwave. It was nothing special. Not the big dinner they had planned, just a plain soup.

Her mother wasn't back when she was done, or after she finished her homework. The girl read a bit in a new book from the library. When she felt like the letters were fading in front of her glasses, she decided it was time for bed.

Brushing teeth, washing her face, getting into her pajamas… and still no sign from her mother.

Just when she was about to get back into bed, she heard it.

A dark, distant rumbling.

She quickly cuddled into her sheets. With all the lights on, the curtains closed and a good book, she would pull this off easily, wouldn't she? She was a grown up already after all!

But 20 minutes later, the lights went out.

There was only the rumbling of the thunder. Each time lightning struck, it light up her room in a ghostly pale light. For minutes, she just sat there.

When a very loud thunder rolled over the village, she was finally out of the bed. The girl ran downstairs. With tears in her eyes, she turned around herself.

"Mama…" she whispered, "Mama, I'm scared… Mama? Mama please! Mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Her sobs chocked her calls. Even if her mother could hear her, she wouldn't understand what her daughter said, because the tears, choked voice and now the hiccups wouldn't have let any understandable sentence leave the girls lips. She finally broke down under a particular loud thunder.

Lightning lit up the living room, as the girl slid onto the ground and over to the kotatsu, next to the couch. Slowly she crawled beneath it to hide. Her eyes were red, her face salty from the tears.

She wasn't afraid of thunder storms. Not of the rain, wind or thunder.

It was the lightning that made her tremble, cry and fall to her knees.

* * *

One day before the quaterfinale of the chunin exams…

The light was already dimmed. The clock in the corner said it was around 11:30 pm and Naruto had a hard time not yawning. He had been in a meeting with the three great sponsors of the exam (Nisshou TV, Taiyoudenki and Kyuuketus Juices). They had come up with some new "innovative" ideas to make the exams more appealing for a broad audience.

Please do not misunderstand this – Naruto had always loved new things. But it just wouldn't get in his head why everybody should wear uniforms, each designed to replace the headband, as it showed the village and the sponsors.

"And now please… don't tell me you want to make these out of rubber," the Hokage rubbed his eyes. This was just too much: The design (male and female) looked like a bathing suit with hot pants attached.

"Well as you can see, these outfits are very endurable and won't get ripped easily. Also, all participants would be easily identified and with the village sign on the back, you'd know right away what town you are rooting for," a young man explained with a bright smile.

"You know," a woman took over. She put down her glasses, sat on the table and opened her blouse a little, "we just want the best for the participants. And with these things you could get so much better results-"

"Please stop this right now."

Naruto had it. With a deep devastated sigh, he stood up, "These… suits will never be the uniform for the exams. Look at them a second time and you will find them ridiculous and embarrassing. I mean," he poked at one of the samples, "would you want to wear it? This meeting is hereby concluded and well, good night."

The three guys mumbled a bit, one tried to get a hold of Naruto, but the Hokage quickly left the room with all his stuff.

"Gosh these people…"

He had a quick glance on his watch. It was already one in the morning. His next destination would be the bed in the hotel room just a hundred meters away, cuddling next to his wife.

His eyes closed, Naruto walked over to the elevator, pressed the "down" button and waited. He didn't even notice when Shikamaru joined him.

"Though day," the advisor asked, making the blonde guy jump.

"Holly crap Shikamaru! I thought it was one of these sales guys…"

"They have been at it again hm. I wonder why they always try you. There are four other Kages who they could ask for stuff."

The elevator arrived and both got in. Naruto leaned at the back wall, while Shikamaru pushed the button for the ground floor.

"I was the one who proposed to get them on board. You remember… the arena was totally broken when Kakashi's kid… uhm…"

"You mean Hatake Hanare?"

"Yeah, yeah I mean her," the elevator quickly moved down, "she blew up the whole west front of the arena and we didn't have the money to fix it? I mean they pay. A lot… And of course they want to advertise a lot too, but… I mean we have stickers and ads of them everywhere already! Why is this not enough," Naruto grabbed his hair and slightly pulled on it, "you know, this makes me crazy…"

"Don't sweat it. Just remember what I have to go through every day with you," Shikamaru gave the Hokage a grin. Naruto glared, "yeah… It must be hell…"

The elevator arrived on the ground floor and the men entered the entrance hall of the main building. Before they parted, Shikamaru pulled something from his pocket.

"I almost forgot this," he handed Naruto a small scroll with a seal, "it arrived this morning by falcon. I didn't have time yet to give it to you."

Naruto took the scroll and had a look at it, "who sends their messages still with falcon today- oh!" His sleepy eyes widened in excitement, "this is from-"

"Yes it is. It got in this morning, still sealed and everything. There was just no time to give it to you," Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, "well goodnight then."

"Yeah thanks a lot Shikamaru," Naruto waved him, his eyes fixed on the message.

It was dark outside and the Hokage silently navigated himself over to the next building where his room was located. A chilling breeze made him pull the coat a little closer. Naruto spotted a bank to sit down. He got comfortable and unrolled the scroll:

"_To the seventh Hokage of Konohagakure,_

_*Mission report #6_

_No, there is no ramen in the flame country. Stop asking._

_The people of the Flame country usually prefer cold food, since the weather is already very warm. Even over the winter the temperature never sinks below 20° plus. The summer will probably be very hot. _

_Not much happened since my last update. The new information gained is not suited as written content. _

_I'd propose you sent a data gathering group._

_You know where to find me._

_PLEASE DO NOT COME YOURSELF! THIS IS AN UNDERCOVER MISSION AND YOU ARE NOT SUITED FOR UNDERCOVER MISSIONS!_

_In case of doubt, consult your advisor._

_Regards_

_The Falcon_"

Naruto was pouting at first. Next, a grin formed on his face. This sounded like Sasuke did well. He didn't write about any problems, so he probably felt as good as he could. So no reason for the Hokage to slack off because of some lowly company representatives!

He stretched a little before finally entering his building and snuggling up to Hinata in the huge hotel bed.

* * *

It was raining heavily. Sasuke pulled his hood deeper into his face, to not get hit by raindrops. It was almost midnight and a heavy thunderstorm was raging over the village. His first stop had been Naruto's office, but it seemed like the Hokage had gone home early this day. The officer at the gate said something like it was his daughter's birthday.

The dobe had reproduced further? This couldn't be good for the village… Another spawn with that devils brat's genes… Hopefully she is more Hinata than her brother, Sasuke thought as he made his way through the streets. He was Uchiha Sasuke, but he still had to be very careful to not slip on the cobble stone path. It was wet and slippery and more than once his shoe got caught in the rickshaw tracks. Once in a while, lighting lit up the sky.

When Sasuke finally reached his families flat, he was wet down to his bones. He rang the doorbell, but due to the thunder storm the electricity was cut.

"Blackout huh," he muttered. There was no key under the doormat. For a minute he pondered if he was going to break into his own home. Then he remembered the balcony door. Maybe Sakura left it open. It was unlikely, but worth a try at least.

Quickly he ran down the stairs, around the building and jumped upstairs onto the

balcony. There was almost no room between all the plants Sakura kept there (some for medical purposes and some for the eye). He carefully made his way through the plant-labyrinth, grabbed the door handle and it was open.

The light was out, but he remembered where the candles were. Another lightning bolt lit up the room for a split second and he heard a shrieking sound. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Had he just caught a thief red-handed?

He grabbed his sword, ready to pierce whomever he would encounter.

Another lightning bolt, another shriek, followed by silent sobs.

Someone hid under the kotatsu in the middle of the room. Sasuke activated his Sharingan. Silently, he approached the heating table and-

* * *

Sasuke woke up. Through the open window he heard bells and the sea gulls. A fisher boat had probably just arrived. It was still dark outside, but Sasuke stood up nonetheless from his wooden bed frame. The room he lived in, held nothing more than the bed, a chest and a pot with water. He didn't need more.

It was also unlikely for people to possess more items than this in the flame country. On the wall leaned his writing board, next to some scrolls papyrus and ink. These things belonged to his disguise.

The Uchiha had changed:

His skin had slowly darkened over the last months and was now of a caramel tone, close to the locals. He had shortened his hair a little, which was now a stiff, salty and smelled of the ocean, hidden beneath a beige sash, similar to when he was 19. The rest of his clothing had changed too: He wore straw sandals to a beige, wrapped skirt, an almost white shirt and a red/blue thick neck collar made of single wooden beats. To cover up the rinnengan, he had simply wrapped the sash over it one time.

The get up marked him as a writer – his undercover personality's trade (well, a one-eyed writer). Thanks to the book Sarada had given him, he was fluent in the language now, with only little accent and was able to write. It seemed like the flame country neglected his people's education, because writers were rare and always needed. Sasuke wrote letters from a mother to her son at court, invitations to a wedding, official documents… He wrote simply, what the people asked him to – as long as they paid him for his service. One of the first customers had been a young boy, who wanted a poem for his mother's birthday. The woman had been so happy about it, that she had offered Sasuke a room in her straw and clay house at the docks to stay in for free (as long as he sent her a poem once in a while).

Sasuke had also gotten himself a new name for this identity: Usher from Andorra, a city at the northern border of the flame country. Far enough away for the people in port Camino, where he now lived and gathered information, to know if they had his accent in Andorra or not.

Camino had the advantage, that it was located on the east of the most southern island of the flame country, with a direct ship route from the fire country's biggest port (Komatsu), over the wind country (Nantou), cloud country, Camino itself, down to Rio Thinis, the flame country's capital. The ship route with the most information to gather.

Sasuke would have preferred to directly go to Rio Thinis, but his fair skin color would have given him away as a spy immediately. And Camino wasn't too bad either.

After washing and getting fully dressed, he made his way to the docs, listening to the chit-chat the sailors had with the locals about their trade, getting some water from the well and finally over to the temple where he would sit like every day, writing. When he arrived, the priests had just ended their morning prayers to the gods (which referred mostly to their current regent: the people of the flame country worshiped their kings and queens as gods). Some of them, all with shaven heads, nodded towards Sasuke.

They had gotten know each other. They even sometimes had special requests for 'Usher'. Priests also heard a lot and were one of Sasuke's best sources. One of them had once asked him, if 'Usher' wouldn't like to teach writing and reading to some of the novices. Because of his "lack in skill of teaching", Usher had declined.

It was early afternoon when Usher made his break and went to get something to eat and drink. He had a favorite spot: A shabby bar somewhere behind the huge sandstone temple. It had a high customer fluctuation.

The bartender already knew him, when Usher entered and got him the usual. He sat down at a table. In the opposite corner, the owner had put a TV. That was new. And a huge crowd of people had gathered around it already.

"_What is the occasion_," Usher asked the owner's daughter who worked as a waitress for her father in perfect hogo.

She blushed. She couldn't have been much older than Sarada, but she had a huge crush on the young, but successful Usher. Her name was Arianna.

"_It is forbidden but… my father found a way to receive TV signals from the demons country…_" she leaned in closer, "_they are watching the chunin exams right now. But don't tell anybody. My father would get into big trouble if anybody would tell the authorities…._"

"_I won't_," Usher promised, "_would you mind if I watch too?_"

She blushed, which you couldn't really see under her dark brown locks and mahogany skin, and shook her head.

Usher stood up with his meal and drink, to sit down on a table from which he could see the TV. An announcer introduced the next fight, but he didn't listen. His eyes were fixed on the praticipants:

A white haired boy with a grin on his face and a black haired girl with the Uchiha crest on the back.

"And this is the biggest hope for Konoha to make it to the top: Uchiha Sarada!"

"_Good luck_," Usher said and Sasuke smiled.

End of Chapter 22

* * *

**_Hey Guys!_**

_I am back with chapter 22! And Sasuke is too! Wow! Long time no see there - chapter 14 I believe? __I know most of you want to see the fights - just be patient, next week it is. I don't want to give you bad copy paste, but individually put together and nicely choreographed fights. _

_With this chapter, I wanted to give you some intel that I had always wanted to give you. About some characters, about Naruto, about Sasuke, but specially about the flame country. It's a hot place - and darn I'd do anything to be laying on a beach there right now..._

_Some people said they were more interested in the main part of the story, rather than the secondary characters. I know and I understand. But what you need to know is, that I don't like to pop out plotpoints and yell "suprise! I'm Orochimaru's experiment nr. 567 and I want world domination!" (That joke actually belongs to Sawyer7mage on youtube.) I don't have one loose end character here. They all have a purpose and to develope the story and to foreshadow upcoming events, I need to develope them too.  
Still, in the end the main characters are Sarada and Bolt - no question about that! :D_

_And here we are back to the end of a chapter. Please check out my other work: "Our Dream"! I'm trying to fill in the blanks in Uchiha Madara's story and I've put my heart in it. And since I'm almost done studying, I'm back to updating it too! _

_As always: Thank you for reading and please tell me how you like the chapter! Leave me a comment or a review or just be here and smile!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Character Songs:_**

_Ako Kajihara:  
_

_~Fergie: London Bridge  
_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Here we go again! Thank you all for commenting on and for reading "Finding Papa"!_

_**ropertfree72**: Yeah... sorry about the delay. But university has a higher priority sadly..._

_**SoundlessWorld**: I know that feeling... sucks... But hey! You just have to be witthy with your brothers! You can do it! Well, see you next week - stay tuned! Your Usagi_

_**Rdk3**: Thank you soooo much for your kind comment! The next chapter will be... BOOM! I have already started and I even got myself a storyboard to draw the action out with stick-figures... I just freaking love to tell this story XDD And as I wrote above: I need the side charas to give the story more dimensions and layers. Thank you very very much - please stay tuned and see you next week. Your Usagi_

_**The Guest**: Kishi is the biggest troll out there. Well... George R.R. Martin is a bigger one but well... Sarada reacted the way a 12 year old girl that loves her mom would react to this stuff. I mean... Even for an adult, this would be quite harsh... Anyways: THX for the review! Plz stay tuned!_

_**Dark princess**: I wouldn't bet on Karin just yet. I mean... since when is Suigetsu qualified to do DNA tests - come on! He might be more intelligent than Naruto, but all he really cares about is his sword and own survival... I like him XD THX for the review and see you next week!_


	25. Chapter 23: Let it Roar!

Chapter 23: Let it Roar!

It was silent in the arena. The barrier had been built up between the contestants and the crowd again. Kadaj and Sarada were fixated on each other. They stood on a flat grassland and the wind slightly moved the green.

Sarada wore the same garments like on the first day, her headband around the head this time though. She observed Kadaj while adjusting her sports glasses one last time. He just stood there.

He had shoulder length silver hair, wore a motorcyclist like leather suit with side enhancements, gloves and boots all in black, with white reflecting lines which were outlining his muscular form. Sarada guessed he was about 2-3 years older than she was. He would have been handsome, if he hadn't already tried to kill her two times and attempted to slit Bolt's throat. The curious thing was, that he hadn't brought his sword.

"Good to see you," he grinned, "Sarada. I see you have recovered from our last encounter."

"Kadaj…" the girl grunted back. She was ready to counter any attempt of him to attack, "what do you want?"

"Oh nothing. I am just enjoying… our reunion. So tell me: How is it going? I have seen that blonde guy I almost killed, but what about the second guy? The black one? Did he fail this test early or did you kick the useless idiot out?"

The crowd "uuuuh"-ed to this comment.

"He didn't participate. Hey," Sarada pulled out a kunai, "could we get started? I have stuff to do so…"

Kadaj nodded, "all right, all right… I just want you to know something first," he flashed his cyan eyes at her, "this is nothing personal. You just seem like a strong person and I have trouble meeting people stronger than me. I'm not like Setsuna fighting for revenge for the last exam. I simply want to beat you. Got that?"

She didn't answer, but raised the kunai a little higher.

"Good."

Kadaj raised his own arms. He held his right hand vertical and placed his left fist at it, "let's have some fun, shall we?" The palm of his hand started to glow turquoise as he pulled his fist away, the hilt of his double blade gripped tightly.

* * *

And they raced towards each other.

With the first clash of metal, the crowd, until then just watching anticipating, finally reawakened and roared. This was some good fighting! Today the Konoha fraction had brought their marching band, but they totally forgot to play. One or two drummers were still banging, but everyone else just watched in awe.

Kadaj truly was a master of his sword: he charged forward, Sarada barely got away from him; she pulled out a second kunai to attack and block simultaneously, but Kadaj saw it.

He twisted on his heels, making the blade slash out for Sarada quickly. He almost cut of her nose, but the girl had fallen back the second he had started turning.

"Not bad," he commented, charging forward again, "how about you get serious now?"

There was an angry red simmering behind the glasses.

"Aaaah now you know what I mean, don't you."

"Shut up," Sarada spit out.

She jumped up, avoided his attack and went for his sword arm. He blocked, making her fly a few meters, but Sarada stopped as soon as she felt the grass, turned around and pushed herself off the ground again.

This time it was Sarada's turn to push Kadaj back. All he could do was block her attacks, but there was still that cocky smirk on his lips.

It was a bizarre view from the seats: Kadaj stood in the middle of the arena, quickly moving his blade around to protect himself from an almost unrecognizable Sarada. She was moving so fast, that you could only see her blurry.

Moving this fast was harsh on Sarada's body though. She usually tried to avoid it but this guy just tipped her off. How was he able to block all her attacks with that ease and that freaking smile on his lips?! Did he have some power of foresight? No there was nothing stronger than her eye power. Was he just good and she-

Sarada jumped back after one last try to hit him.

"What are you," she spit at him and finally activated her Sharingan.

"Oh don't panic little girl," he taunted, "I am just getting started. You see: In your first match it had been you who had the opponent by the balls. Now I have got you by your- Never mind."

He had a smug grin on his face as he raced towards her again, this time even faster. Sarada saw him coming through her Sharingan, but couldn't protect herself or avoid him. She simply wasn't quick enough.

Kadaj cut her cheek and sent her flying with a kick of his right foot. He then threw his sword into the air, cutting off some strands of Sarada's hair.

"Sword Style," he smirked, "Omni Slice!"

He jumped, caught his blade mid-air, hit Sarada with it, threw it back into the air, pushed off the ground, caught it again, sliced the girl, threw the blade away again-

And Sarada wasn't able to do anything. It all happened too quickly. Knowing what was going to happen, didn't help at all.

* * *

"Hey are you not going to watch?"

Four of the next contestants had met up on their small balcony in the arena wall. Suihi, Izuru (Bolt's next opponent) and Tadashi were watching the fight, while Bolt was leaning at the fence, facing the wall.

He didn't even look up when Tadashi asked him the question.

"I already told you that I will not. I don't want to see what she is capable of doing now and if I would watch now, it would be cheating," he pouted.

"Oh come on! Aren't you friends or something," the redhead bent down, "or is it something else?"

"Shut up."

The blonde boy buried his face between his knees. He didn't want to watch Sarada fight. It wouldn't be fair to have already seen some of her moves, if she didn't have the chance yet to watch him. As crazy as it sounded –even to himself-, Bolt wanted a one on one match, with even possibilities. He wanted to show her, that he had advanced. That he wouldn't let anybody in his team in any future possible get hurt ever again.

Why he wanted Sarada to know this? He didn't understand himself. Probably because she had been the one who had accused him of being irresponsible. Bolt didn't feel like this was a bad thing, until she had called him that.

He still felt though, that she was the irresponsible brat. Not him.

"Bolt, come quick. You need to watch this," Tadashi had gone back to watching the fight.

"I told you I wouldn't," he protested but-

"Shut it and come over! She is fucking loosing!"

"Of course she is! Wait what?!"

* * *

Sarada stood in the middle of the arena. She had blood all over her body from a hundred small cuts. Her legs were shaking, but her pride didn't allow her to fall just yet.

She had lost. There was no way she could fight back.

With his last attacks, Kadaj had gotten so fast that even her three tomoe Sharingan wasn't able to see his movements. Of course he took advantage of the situation.

"Are you done already," he yelled as he again moved quickly, cutting Sarada some more. The girl was stumbling over her own legs, trying to protect herself from the enemy, but failed miserably.

"You little piece of shit," she grunted.

What was there left to do? How could she escape it? She had no strength left, so how to-

Sarada looked up. Her Sharingan scanned the whole arena accidently and got stuck on one point: The participant's balcony.

Up there she identified two of the three guys who had attacked her team in the second exam, her roommate Suihi and- what was he doing there?

Hadn't Bolt decided to not watch her matches? Hadn't it been HIS wish to fight her one on one in this exam without seeing each other's powers first? What the heck did he want?!

She was losing. Sarada knew this one fact. Kadaj was strong, fast and a master of his blade. What was there left to do? All left for HIM was to finish her off!

If he would.

Kadaj let his blade fall, making it stick out of the ground. That's how heavy it was. He walked up to the Uchiha girl and raised her by her throat.

"I had hoped for more resistance from your side," he mocked, "I mean: The great Uchiha Sarada who had defeated my whole team last year. Losing to you, wouldn't have been that much of a disgrace. But look at you now. Pathetic."

"End-this… right… here," she coughed, trying to pry his hands away from her neck," be-done… with it!"

"But that wouldn't be funny at all."

Kadaj threw her at the wall, blood spilling from Sarada's mouth. She was finally down on the ground.

The girl blacked out for a moment. As soon as she reopened her eyes, she searched for the participant's balcony. She wanted to say 'sorry' to Bolt. 'Sorry' for not being able to defeat Kadaj and she knew there was no way she could do it.

What is that idiot doing, she thought, he is behaving like the ape I presumed he is!

And yes: Bolt was jumping up and down, waving his hands, screaming at her.

He didn't want her to loose. He wanted her to win. And he freaking knew that she was able to do better:

"YOU CAN DO IT," he yelled. Tadashi put up his hands on his ears to protect them.

"YOU ARE UCHIHA FREAKING SARADA! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THIS PUNK BEFORE! SO GET UP, BEAT HIM UP AND-"

Sarada didn't know what he was trying to tell her. She didn't even hear him. All she knew was, that-

"Such an annoying little idiot," with a disgusted face she spit out some blood. The shaking had stopped.

Kadaj had gotten back to his weapon, preparing for his last strike. He was still determining on how to defeat her, when he realized that Sarada was getting up again.

"Oh my, how interesting," he taunted and cleaned his blade with a simple white tissue, "I had no idea you were still able to stand. I admire your spirit," he held out his blade to her, "but I must inform you: This will be the last time you will be able to face me."

She simply grinned, "go on then: Show me what you got. I just realized how I am going to defeat you."

His eyes narrowed.

"Go on?"

"I tried to defend myself against your blade with my blades," she gestured towards the two kunai she had used before, "but I am not able to. Heck, even if I used an actual blade I wouldn't stand a chance against you. I needed to realize this, to find your weak point."

"Please enlighten me," he did a fake bow to make fun of her, "what is my weak point?"

Sarada was back up and grinning: "Your blade."

Kadaj didn't even have time to really think about what she just had said. Somehow she was able to gather all her remaining energy and charge forward. But she didn't attack Kadaj in flesh, but his blade. She pushed it aside with her bare left hand, getting cut even more. Though, it didn't look like she cared. Her other hand was formed into a fist.

The white haired boy couldn't cover his face. He took the hit full frontal and got blasted away.

After catching herself, Sarada had some seconds. At first she wiped the blood from her lips. The next second she was searching for Bolts face in the crowd. She gave him a cold glare and held up her fist, the middle finger standing high up in the air.

"Fuck you," she mumbled.

* * *

Bolt was grinning.

His "nemesis" was just showing him the middle finger and he was grinning.

"Good," he punched one hand with his other fist, "and now go get him."

After he was sure she had understood his little message, he backed away from the balcony fence and made his way towards the door. Tadashi didn't understand what was happening.

"Are you not going to watch anymore? What was all the finger thing about? Is that your secret sign that you got it? If yes, it's pretty stupid!"

"It means that she got the message," Bolt was still grinning while opening the door to the hallway.

"What freaking message do you mean?! All you did was scream at her from up here and I doubt she heard one word you said-"

But Bolt just rolled his eyes and left. No one but him and Sarada would ever understand what he had 'told' her.

* * *

Down in the arena, the girl was preparing herself for a new round. She kept her Sharingan locked on Kadaj, who had trouble standing straight after receiving a full hit from her.

"What was that," he coughed, trying to regain his composure. While flying away, he had lost his blade and was now looking for it.

Sarada didn't leave him any time though.

"Uma – Tori –Tatsu," she whispered.

A frizzle was to be heard. Kadaj's hair flew into the air as he reached for his blade again.

"What did you do little bitch," he frowned, trying to see what kind of technique she had just unleashed, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Just wait," she answered and jumped towards him.

"You want to fight," he raised his double blade and swung it, "you couldn't even dodge me the last few times!"

But Sarada dived beneath the metal and her fist met his surprised jaw.

"No I couldn't," she answered, standing on her own two feet. Shaking, but standing. "I always saw your moves with my Sharingan," her red glare met his as he tried to get back up, "but I simply wasn't fast enough to avoid your sword. I congratulate you for achieving this."

He tried to grab his blade again, but Sarada was quick to act: She jumped and not a second later he was flying through the arena again. Blood spilled on the ground. His and hers.

"Don't think I'm done yet!"

Kadaj rolled over, avoiding another punch of hers, but now getting hit by her foot. Sarada didn't stop there. She grinned, twisted on her hands and gave Kadaj another kick with her other foot.

"Why are you able to keep up now," he had a tough time to speak. She had probably broken his jaw.

"That's the secret. I can't," Sarada answered, racing towards him again.

All the boy was able to do now, was blocking. The Uchiha girl hit him with all the force she had left, eventually weakening her punches, but still strong enough to hit him where it hurt.

She gave him another second and grabbed a new kunai, "this time I'll be slicing you."

And Sarada kept her word: With quick slashes she was mimicking what he had done to her earlier in the fight. She wasn't able to do the 'Omni Slice', because of her lack of stamina, but by slicing his leather clothes and skin apart, she still hurt him. Not so much his body, but rather his pride.

"What have you done," he asked angrily, finally able to get a hold of his double blade to keep her at a distance.

Sarada swung her kunai around, "you remember, with my Sharingan I was able to foresee your movements, but I wasn't quick enough to avoid them. My last technique is called: Lighting release: Static field," the girl was starting to shiver. The blood loss was getting to her, "I made the whole arena a static field in which I can sense any movement." She pointed at the grass, which had almost completely turned into mud by being run over so many times, and at his hair, "anything that moved. Even your muscles. And by using my Sharingan, I was able to analyze the way you muscles moved. The moment you try to attack me, I already know what you are trying to do," she bent down, "and am able to counter."

Sarada infused her kunai with her lighting chakra, "you know… I once was kind of afraid of lighting. But I came to realize that it didn't always have to be bad. Thanks too you I'm now able to use it in combat," she had a genuine smile on her face, "therefore I now want to show you my gratitude."

Uchiha Sarada charged forward.

Kadaj quickly raised his blade.

Metal hit metal with brute force and-

"I SURRENDER!"

End of Chapter 23

* * *

**_Hey there my dear Readers!_**

_I'm late... I know it... Why? Last uni projects, people who don't understand MS word, bachelor thesis, a visitor and an upcoming wedding. Also, this was the first chapter where I really had problems. I knew what was going to happen, I even drew it! Badly but still... took me a while to find out the right description for the "Omni Slice". So much for being done studying - for regular exams. But wait there is more! -.-"  
_

_Anyways... Sarada vs Kadaj - did it live up to your expectation? I truly hope so. It's nothing compared to what the last fight of the exam will be, but hihihi won't tell you yet.  
The next chapter will be the last one with Kadaj in it. He served his purpose (making Sarada stronger in many ways). For the ones who have not yet realised it: I didn't create him myself, but borrowed him from "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children". I really loved the movie, him as a bad guy and he was the perfect opponent for Sarada! I think so at least :)_

_Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

**_Since I will be at a wedding, I don't know yet if I will be able to update on Thursday. The latest date possible will be this weeks Saturday!_**

_While talking about weddings: Since this story right now lacks a little in romance, I'd like to recommend my friend_ HerosReprise_'s story to you:  
_"Four Weddings and a Funeral"  
_If you wish for a good romantic story, this is where you go. And since she is a nativ English speaker, she has a lot less typos ;) If you decide to have a look, please leave her a review. She deserves it :)_

_I hope you guys are going to enjoy the last chapter of "Naruto Gaiden" this Thursday. Concerning myself, I'll probably be kind of sad. Naruto is ending again. It was hard the first time already :) But I know we can do it!  
Thanks to Masashi Kishimoto for giving us another amazing story! You are awesome - just as you, my readers are!_

_See you all this week!_

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. The name giving song "Let it Roar" is by the powermetal band "Battle Beast"! It's awesome!_

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thank you all for reading "Finding Papa" and for leaving reviews! You help me a lot!_

_**Zephra2002**: Thank you for the kind review! In a story time moves on, therefore it would be unrealistic if characters leave the screen and stop developing. THX! And you are right concerning Sarada in Gaiden. It's something that I really didn't like about the original manga: I'm a strong girl who gets shit done usually and there was no girl that I could identify with, cause all they thought about was their love life. I never understood that reasoning... . I mean... Love is important but... uhm yeah. Thanks again and I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter! Your Usagi_

_**Dark princess**: I guess the last Gaiden chapter will solve everything... Yeah.. till now Saeko looks very.. mean? And uncaring? She can be quite a bitch I guess ^^" Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! See you sooon!  
_

_**The Guest**: Thank you for the review! Did you like Sarada's fight? And yeah: long haired Sakura was a sight for sore eyes *.* See you hopefully next week!  
_

_**streetplaa-cruz**: I'm sorry for making you wait too long. If you see everything like a movie... that's what I want you to experience! Thank you very very much :)  
_

_**Guest**: Sasuke loves Sarada dearly. But remember how he shows that he likes someone: If he tried to kill you, you probably mean something to him. XD And he cannot write anything personal in letters to Naruto, because if it would fall into the wrong hands, his cover might get blown. And with Sarada now in the chunin exams, there is no way anybody in the ninja world doesn't know her name anymore. And of course: Their enemies have their eyes on upcoming threats (like Sarada might become one day) too.  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Welcome back! :D Hope you had a good time at your GP's home :) Yes, Sasuke is Usher. Sasuke created the person "Usher" as his alias, cover to be able to sneak into the Flame country. And no I don't like to torture you. But there are 2-3 days between the last fight and the quaterfinal. I didn't want to just jump over that time period... Well: thank you very much for the review! See you soon! Your Usagi  
_


	26. Chapter 24: A special Weapon

_I'd love to call this chapter "Can you dig it" but since this won't do... Go to youtube, search for the Iron Man 3 soundtrack and you will find the song there! It fits the following fight perfectly... Have fun!_

* * *

Chapter 24: A special Weapon

Sarada stopped mid-movement. The scene looked funny:

Kadaj was kneeling in front of her, with his back bent as if he was trying to do a limbo, his double blade protective in front of him. Sarada on the other hand was holding a glowing kunai, the tip barely touching the swords metal, and seemed ready to hit the guy with one last punch.

"You what?"

"I surrender," Kadaj put away his sword as soon as Sarada took on a less aggressive stance. The girl was still puzzled, so he gave her a smirk. "Don't look at me like that. You predicted completely right: My weak point is my blade. You probably meant it in a way, that I couldn't fight without it. I'm not perfect without it, but I manage. You were right in a different way though.

Kadaj came some steps closer and showed Sarada the blade. Where she had hit the metal with her kunai was a small crack.

"This blade is a hundred years old. If it was to break, I'd never forgive myself," he bowed to her, "it was a pleasure, Uchiha princess."

Sarada blushed a little and raised her kunai again, "don't call me that. It's stupid."

He only smirked and the sound barrier was lifted.

When Kadaj had yelled his surrender into the world, there had been silence for a moment. But then the Konoha marching band caught on that their fighter had won the battle and proceeded to play a victory march. The other fans were quick to fall in with their noise making devices, screaming, yelling, and happily congratulating each other on "their" victory.

"Uchiha Sarada is the winner," the announcer declared through his microphone, "congratulations! But it seems like she is bleeding a little too much – medical support needed?"

Sarada's legs were wobbling a little and she fell back onto her knees. There was this feeling of happiness: where at first adrenaline had been holding her up, endorphins were taking over. But the happiness hormone made her body realize that it was about to run dry again.

Two medics were already on the way to her trough the muddy arena. One quickly got to work to stop the bleedings on Sarada's multiple cuts, the other quickly shoved a needle in the girls arm and carefully infused her with a salt solution.

"Can you walk," the one working on the infusion asked.

"Better if we carry her," the other said and they waved for two more medics with a stretcher.

"I'm fine," Sarada murmured as she was being pushed down to be carried out of the arena.

"Just precaution," they explained.

"This is so embarrassing…"

* * *

Bolt was waiting at the emergency department for her. He had a huge grin on his face.

"Hah Haruno! Did you succeed? I heard you almost gave up in the middle of the fight?"

"Oh shut up," she grunted and wanted to get up, but was pushed back by the medics, "hey I'm alright!"

"Your mother is going to kill us if we don't check you trough roughly," she got as answer.

Bolt got himself a chair to sit next to her, "hey… do you by any chance know why they pushed all fights on today? Like… shouldn't your fight have gone down yesterday together with Suihi vs. Shizumasa?"

"Talking about that guy, where is he?" The girl was finally allowed to sit up a bit at least.

"I haven't seen him yet… Maybe he knows what's going on? I mean… You can't just have a three days break in the third exam. Two days is already long. But three?"

"Don't overuse your brain. It might melt," Sarada mocked.

But Bolt was right. All participants had been surprised when their matches had been rescheduled to take place on one day. The blond guy had of course tried to get information out of his father, but the Hokage would not say a word about the matter.

"I'm sure he will turn up when it's his match. I mean, they scheduled it last. So if he doesn't arrive until the match, I wouldn't wonder. Actually," Sarada tried to get the infusion needle out of her arm, "why are you still here? Aren't you supposed to be fighting right now?"

"Aaaah I totally forgot! Thank you-"he yelled, making her cover her ears, but he tore them away again quickly, "congrats for making it to the semi finale!"

"Yeah… Thank you… my ears…"

Bolt jumped up and raced towards the participant's entrance. His opponent Izuru was already waiting. He had been in Tadashi's team. Bolt had just met him up at the balcony and remembered the short blonde hair and kunai earings.

"And I was already hoping you were not coming anymore." His facial expression was kind of bored. He even had his hands in his jacket pockets. The Sunagakure headband hung still around his neck.

"As if I would miss a fight," Bolt gave Izuru a friendly slap on the shoulder, "let's have a good match."

"Stop touching me. And listen: I won't be as easy to defeat as Hattori had been."

Bolt didn't answer because they were already being transported up into the arena.

* * *

While he had been fighting in marshlands the last time with no real secure foothold, Bolt now was happy to find himself standing in a dry and open area with some moss on the ground. The arena walls had been covered in drawn trees behind a ring of real trees, mostly oaks.

The Konoha shinobi smirked. This was perfect.

As soon as the protective barrier had been built up, both participants jumped backwards, away from each other.

Bolt pulled out a bunch of his kunai and threw them at the opponent. He sadly only hit the trees behind Izuru. The younger boy had no trouble avoiding the attacks.

He ran to his right, almost beneath the trees following the circle like shape of the clearing. Bolt did the same to always keep his opponent in his view and as far away from himself as possible. He went on throwing kunai at Izuru while running, but always just hit trees.

After completing two full circles, they stopped.

"Are we really just going to play tag? I'm bored," Izuru stated and formed some seals:

"Wind Release: Wind Bullet!" He yelled and invisible bullets almost hit Bolt. The Uzumaki barely avoided them.

"So it was you who attacked Shizumasa and me in the forest," he grinned, "that makes it a lot easier actually."

"Oh don't think so," Izuru prepared another jutsu, "I know all your techniques from the fight back then – you have only seen this one of mine."

"Like… really? You are really implying that I didn't improve in these last five months? Oh come on!" Bolt was pouting once again.

Izuru just rolled his eyes, "man, all you did till now was throw kunai around. And they look kind of weird." He picked one up and investigated it. The weapon was only partly metal: The handle was made of cedar wood, wrapped in chakra paper with writings on it. It had the obligatory metal ring on one end, while the tip was one pointy blade with two barbs – that pointed into the wrong direction.

"This looks expensive," Izuru let the kunai fall to the ground again, "you should stop spamming them and get serious. This is no way to treat your parent's money."

The Uzumaki smiled. He remembered exactly when he had gone to buy these special kunai. And at first he didn't like them either.

* * *

"Come on Bolt, it's just around the corner," a very exhausted Konohamaru was dragging his blonde student through the streets of Konoha. The kid wasn't particularly happy. They had stopped training for the moment only to go for a walk in the city.

It was late autumn. The streets were wet and covered in leaves. Even the streetlights were on at three in the afternoon.

"Sensei why can't we just go back to training? If my dad finds out we are here-"

"He won't, he is too busy fighting off stupid merchandise ideas. Trust me, he has no interest in having his sons face on anti-aging products or the Konoha symbol on a new dog costume-"

"Why would my face be on anti-aging things? That's really stupid."

"Well, that's what your father is right now telling the guys who had the idea…"

Together they turned right into the street with the weapon shops. Since most shops were older than Konohamaru himself and owned by twice as old people, the lighting was reduced to the normal street lanterns. No neon signs to enhance the dull day.

Suddenly raindrops started to fall and Konohamaru dragged Bolt into the street, "quickly or we'll get wet."

"I don't mind getting wet," the blonde pouted.

They quickly reached their destined shop. It was the biggest, but also the newest. Left and right of the entrance it had displays with high quality weaponry. Bolt wanted to have a closer look, but Konohamaru dragged him inside.

"Irasshaimase," a bored voice from the back said. Bolt sneaked up close to the door and got caught by the shop owner.

"Well whom do we have here," a tall woman with two brown buns and a braid asked as she picked the blonde guy up by his ear, "the Hokage's little beast. No sorry, that was your younger sister, right?" She winked at him.

"Tenten san," Konohamaru bowed, "we are here to pick up the special order I placed last month. Is it ready yet?"

"Let me think… do you have your order number?"

Tenten adjusted her white and red qui pao and started her pc, "oh look, it's raining again. This weather is going to make me bankrupt. Nobody ever comes here. I'm still asking myself why I'm opening up each day…" she sighed.

"It's not that bad. We both know you make the most money with postal purchases anyway and the people need a place to pick up the goods. I'm actually asking myself why you haven't yet opened your own postal service," Konohamaru winked at her, "do you need the number?"

"Yes please."

"Ok, it's the…"

Bolt stopped listening at some point. He examined the displays within the shop: there were a hundred different shapes of kunai and shuriken in all sizes, enhancement scrolls, different chais, swords, cuffs… and of course the legendary ninja weapons, used by Rikudo Sennin. But before the boy was able to have a close look, Konohamaru called him back.

"Here you go: 50 kunai for Hira-"

"Sssshhh," Konohamaru placed a finger on Tenten's lips, "he still doesn't know what awesome thing he is going to learn." Tenten pushed the hand away.

"If that's so," she handed over a thick brown scroll, "I wish you lots of fun! I won't tell anyone!"

"Thanks a lot ma'am. Here are your 5000 Ryo." Konohamaru nodded and put an envelope down on the counter.

"Thank you for your purchase," Tenten smiled brightly and the two boys left her shop.

At the training grounds Konohamaru finally showed his student the new tool.

"A kunai," Bolt dryly stated, "a 100 Ryo kunai with a signature. Whose is it? My dads? No thanks I have a wall full of those."

Konohamaru gave his student a slap on the back of the head, "no signature. And these kunai are going to make you fly." The teacher grinned into Bolt's clueless face.

* * *

"Are you now lecturing me on my own weaponry," Bolt shouted, "that's it! I'll-"

"Too late!"

Izuru had enough of Bolt's babbling. He formed the same hand signs as before and again shot wind bullets at the Konoha genin. Bolt was able to dodge the bullets, but he had forgotten about the user for a second. Izuru came flying with a loud yell, swaying around a thick dark metal chain with a cylindrical weight at the end. The boy slammed it onto the ground where Bolt had just stood a second ago. Confused he turned his head left and right, searching where the other blonde had gone to.

"Hey there," a voice from behind him laughed. Izuru turned on his heels only to see Bolt standing over there, waving at him.

"How did you get over there from here?!"

"You know, I did improve," Bolt grinned and suddenly reappeared right next to Izuru, punching him right in the face, "boooh ya!"

Izuru was pushed back a little, but was quickly back to swinging around his weapon. Sadly, Bolt was gone again, this time leaning at a tree 10 meters away. He was playing with his kunai.

"How are you doing this?!" Izuru came running after Bolt again. He was too slow. Bolt vanished in front of his eyes, reappeared behind his back and pushed the Sunagakure ninja forward. He stumbled and almost fell over his own feet, but the blonde rapscallion caught him.

"Be careful! You can easily stumble here. Good thing I caught you!"

"Youuuuuuuuuuu aaaaaargh," Izuru had put his rage face on and actually managed to hit Bolt.

"Uups you were not supposed to get in contact with me – sorry my fault," he just laughed it off.

"Get up and fight like a real man," the chain swinging boy shouted and started slashing out the weight towards Bolt, who tried his best to avoid him. However hard he tried, Izuru never hit his opponent.

Bolt seemed to enjoy it. He had watched most of the other matches and had seen what kind of opponents there were to face. He had seen how hard Sarada's last fight had been and he had watched that Sabakuno girl beat up Chocho… so either he was lucky with his enemies or he was very strong already. Guess which option his brain selected.

For one second Bolt had not paid attention, already congratulating himself on his victory. His enemy hadn't slept though and finally Izuru was able to hit Bolt harshly.

"Yes," he moaned in happiness, "finally! Finally you are shutting up!"

"Man… that hurt," Bolt rubbed the back of his head, "can't you be a little more careful with that thing you are swinging around there? Let's get this done…"

Bolt was still holding his head when he formed a seal with his left hand and disappeared from in front of Izuru. Later one was quick to catch on and followed Bolt with his eyes. The Konoha ninja was collecting all his kunai again until there was only one left.

It was only then that Izuru caught up with what was happening: He quickly threw his chain towards Bolt, making the blonde boy disappear again. The Suna ninja though had already shifted his way and ran towards the last kunai, pulled out another chain and-

Bolt reappeared right where Izuru though he would. He grinned and slashed out with his new chain, making Bolt roll away. The Uzumaki looked at Izuru horrified.

"How did you get this close to me?! I thought you-"

"Were too stupid to catch on? I don't know how your technique is called, but it's legendary. Everyone knows it and I was too lame not to realize it was this particular one. You are using a remote version of the "Flying Thunder God" technique the fourth Hokage used," Izuru picked up the last kunai. He threw it over to Bolt who caught it hesitantly.

"But to use it you need the kunai to mark your goal when you jump. And now you are out of kunai."

* * *

Saeko was leaning at a wall close to the participant's arena entrance. She had braided her hair in long one ponytail today and had even put a violet little bow on the tip.

"Hey there sis," Tadashi had finally arrived.

"How was watching the fights with the others. Fun?" She started playing with her hair.

"Don't be jealous. They are my friends and you are my sister. You will always come first for me."

Her big eyes were watching him warily. She carefully pushed him back a little, "yeah… alright."

"Did you get the info's we wanted," her brother asked and sat down on the other side of the corridor. Nobody was coming anyways.

"I did," she slid down too, "uncle Kankuro is really useless when he's drunk."

Saeko gave her brother and future opponent an envelope, "whoever wins our fight will be facing Sarada," she informed him as he started to skim the page within the envelope.

"Ok… in that case we need to talk about our fight. And did you find out why the matches had been rescheduled?"

She nodded.

"Yes… there was an incident and… someone dropped out and left."

"Who," Tadashi was confused. He had already seen everyone, hadn't he?

"Shizumasa did."

End of Chapter 24

* * *

_**My dear readers**_

_I got wifi at the hotel! yaaaay!  
_

_But no time at hand so: I hope you liked this chapter, please comment and tell me about your thoughts on it!_

_Thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter - You are awesome.  
_

_Sadly Naruto Gaiden is finally concluded. I really did like it! _

_See you guys next week!_

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. you can find my Twitter profile through my ffnet profile. Go there for updates of all sorts!_


	27. Chapter 25: The Sand Siblings

Chapter 25: The Sand Siblings

"Why would anybody drop out after getting through the preliminaries? That's like super stupid," Tadashi shook his head at the news, "and I bet he didn't even tell his teammates…"

"How do you know?" Saeko put away the envelope after Tadashi handed it back. She pulled off the rubber band from the end of her braid and was trying to curl it all up into a snail like bun on her head. Without some pins it wouldn't hold though, so she re-braided it.

The light was flickering and went out.

"Stupid motion sensor," the boy waved his hand, "how I know? You know Bolt. He would have never let the guy go… And I don't know about that Sarada girl, but she doesn't look like she'd support it either. But I'm just stupid me."

"You are not stupid…"

"Oh really? Who cares… So… our fight… I guess you want to win hm…" Tadashi studied his sisters' face. She had always had this obsession with Bolt since she once met him. Himself he thought that the blonde guy was pretty normal, nothing special and why Saeko was always trying to meet him? Tadashi didn't understand what was going on in his sister's head. Why she was always so focused on someone as random as Bolt.

"I'm sorry Tadashi," she whispered, her hair in a braid again.

"Don't apologize. We'll go out there, fight a little, I will give up, you run over that Sarada girl like a truck and then, if that blonde idiot didn't lose against whomever he'll be fighting, you will finally have your chance to meet him in a one on one official battle. I have only one request: You tell me now why the hell you want to fight him so badly? You haven't shut up about fighting him since-"

"-since I met him back then. Do you remember?" Saeko hugged her legs. There was a melancholic smile playing on her lips. Tadashi realized for the first time that his sister had longer eyelashes than he had.

"He treated me like he treated you. That's something nobody else has ever done."

"He told you that you are ugly with pigtails," the boy raised an eyebrow.

"And he was right! I never wore them again. He told me what nobody else had done because they were afraid, that I would pop off their heads. None of our five nannies at grandma's place said it, neither did mom or grandma or even dad! I really loved my pigtails but nobody ever told me that I actually looked like a poisoned lollipop right out of hell… And he did. He is brave... So I want to fight him and say thank you when we are done."

Tadashi scratched his cheek, looking at his sister with questioning eyes, "yeah… that sounds a little strange, ya know?"

Saeko didn't answer, she only smiled and checked her stuff.

When Tadashi was done collecting his things, he wanted to finally walk over to the entry level, but turned around one last time:

"Just so you remember this… If you want to win today, you will have to hurt me a little at least."

Saeko frowned.

* * *

Meanwhile Bolt was trying to figure out a new way to kick Izuru's ass. The guy from Sunagakure wasn't supposed to actually catch on to Bolt's fancy technique. But he was right: His grandfather's skill was too widely known to not be recognized when used as often as he had done right now. It wouldn't look like magic to anybody at all.

Izuru had taken his chance as soon as the Uzumaki stopped bolting through the arena. He swung his chain-weight thingy around as if it was nothing, trying to hit Bolt in the head hard enough to knock him out. The blonde had been able to avoid most of the blasts until now, but it was only a matter of time until the other would strike harshly. He had to come up with a-

Izuru laughed. He had finally managed to hit Bolt with the heavy weight. He watched as the Uzumaki grabbed his head, stumbled and struggled to stay on his feet.

"See, I told you so! Your fancy weapon was useless against me," Izuru taunted, "let's get this over with."

Think. Think Bolt, think. Think… use your brain for a second and think!

"…think… think… think!" Blood rushed down the right side of his face. He got some in the eye, reciting the word 'think' like a prayer to finally get an idea on how to get his sorry ass out of this misery. "THINK!"

And there was his answer. Bolt didn't have any more kunais out there to mark his destination when he would 'jump'. But there was one last marking. He had put it there himself, right before the fight had started. How could he have forgotten this…

Izuru was running towards Bolt again, his chain swinging left and right. His opponent had finally fallen to the ground, kneeling there to be taken down by the sand ninja. He smirked. What an easy win.

"Prepare to lose," he shouted and threw the weight towards Bolt.

But Bolt wasn't there anymore.

The metal hit the ground, getting stuck, but Izuru didn't notice. He was searching the arena with his eyes.

"Oh fuck you! Did I overlook one of your toys?! Get out here bastard," the ninja from Sunagakure howled. He was pissed.

"You don't have any manners, do you?"

Izuru swirled around. Bolt stood right behind him, blood still running down his right cheek – but grinning like an idiot. He hit his surprised opponent in the face, making him loose his balance. Izuru fell onto his butt.

"How… why… how the hell did you get behind me?!"

Bolt grinned even brighter, "you remember when I patted you on the back right before we started? I put a sticker on your jacket with my seal. You can peel it off later."

"You did what?!" Izuru quickly got out of his coat and threw it away. There really was a small sticker on it, "damn it… my fault I didn't check it."

"Why should you? At the time you had no clue what would happen. So," Bolt put his arms behind his head, "don't blame yourself."

"Let's end this… I'm tired of your shenanigans…" Izuru threw the chain he had held onto away and launched himself at Bolt. The Uzumaki avoided the first fist hit, pulling out a kunai. He managed to cut Izuru's cheek. The later one fell to the ground and caught himself. In a split second his leg shot forward. He swiftly hit Bolts legs, making the blonde fall onto his butt.

"Uff!"

Izuru grinned and grabbed a kunai himself. He jumped, pressing Bolt into the ground, the kunai at the Uzumaki's throat, "surrender."

"As-if-I-would-surrender!"

Bolt rolled Izuru to the side, taking the top spot for himself, "see I got ya!" He pushed Izuru's kunai down onto its owner's throat.

"Fuck," Izuru muttered. He mobilized his last strength, sweat slightly getting into his eye, and pushed Bolt away. Both of them quickly got back to their feet. Bolt too was finally gasping for a little air. He didn't pay attention for one second and found himself on the run from Izuru again. Later one had taken the opportunity, grabbed his chain and restarted his assault on Bolt.

The Uzumaki jumped back, towards the arena walls and the trees. One hit, two hits, three hits- Bolt hid behind a tree.

"Come out come out, wherever you are," Izuru yelled and threw his chain. In the split second he needed to aim however, he had to close his eyes (they were burning with salty sweat) and he didn't throw exactly:

The chain and weight shot forwards, wrapped itself around a tree branch and the weight hit Izuru's head from above. The face of surprise was priceless. Only Bolt was able to see it though for a second until Izuru fell to the ground – unconcicious.

"So… that's it..?" Bolt wasn't sure if he had just won by default or if Izuru would be getting up to continue? Since he would not get too close in case his opponent was planning something, Bolt picked up a long stick and poked it into Izuru's cheek.

The sand ninja didn't protest having the stick shoved into his nose, so Bolt jumped into the arena, raised his arms and took his applause.

He was one step closer to his battle with Sarada.

* * *

Saeko and Tadashi had already taken their positions at the entrance platforms. They could hear the crowd cheer.

"Sounds like your boyfriend's fight is over. I wonder who won," Tadashi grinned.

"He is not my boyfriend," his sisters crossed her arms in front of her chest, getting back to her 'resting bitch'-face with a little blush on her cheeks, "but I would really love to know who won…" she turned away from her brother with a hot red face.

"Oh god…" Tadashi moaned, "if the world only knew what kind of girl you really are…" The boy was cut off when the ceiling finally opened and they were brought up into the arena.

Tadashi quickly took in his surroundings.

"Oh great. A desert," he threw his hands into the air, "it's like they want me to loose! Come on sis, let's get this over with."

But instead of actually realizing her advantageous situation, Saeko was still blushing with her head somewhere in the clouds.

"Oh come on," Tadashi rolled his eyes and threw a razor sharp knife towards her. Within the blink of an eye Saeko was back on earth and a thin stream of sand shred the metal into shining powder.

* * *

Since they were young, Tadashi had always protected his sister from the world and the other way around. They had grown up in an old mansion their mother's family owned. Their grandmother was a strict woman, who held nothing more dear than the shining name of the family. Therefore her dishonored daughter and bastard grandchildren had to stay hidden, far away from everything and everyone. If it hadn't been like this, Tadashi was sure, they would have found their father sooner. But they were locked away.

Some servants were always around, but most of the time they were with their mother. The lady Asami didn't take the situation very well. She had always been free spirited, wishing or her own freedom of choice, but being locked in with her children made her realize that her dreams were nothing but wishful thinking. Each day she would grow more and more delusional, blaming her mother for ruining her life, blaming the unknown father of her children for it. She would sometimes take time with Saeko, using the girl like a puppet to play dress up and have tea parties. One bad day Asami would hit her daughter for not behaving. Tadashi always tried to protect his sister. But his mother would just pull him aside, yelling that he should stop taking his daughters side. She was mistaking him for his father.

A doctor later on diagnosed the twin's mother with a serve case of schizophrenia. They were separated. But the doctor had not realized that her children were the only thing holding the lady Asami off from completely succumbing to the voices in her head. Living in complete isolation now, she found herself the cause of all her misery: Tadashi and Saeko, her beloved ones who had (so the voices told her) abandoned her like their father and grandmother had. Lady Asami didn't care. She somehow broke free from her room in the manor and found her way to the nursery. The children had visited the beach that day with their nannies and brought back a glass filled with sand and seashells.

The twins were only five back then and sleeping tightly in their beds. They didn't hear their mother enter. She turned at first towards her daughter, placing a heavy cushion onto the girls face, humming their favorite nursery rhyme:

"_Round, round, go round, Waterwheel, go round… Go round, and call Mr. Sun… Go round, and call Mr. Sun… Birds, bugs, beasts, grass, trees, flowers… Flower, bear fruit, and die… Be born, grow up, and die… Still the wind blows, the rain falls… The waterwheel goes round… Lifetimes come and go in turn…Lifetimes come and go in turn…_"

Lady Asami could have killed her children that night. But Tadashi was still awake when his mother had entered. He had watched her with big eyes. But as soon as he saw her approach his sister, he couldn't stay still. The boy silently slipped out of his bed and grabbed the jar with sand. His mother was too occupied, trying to kill Saeko, whereas she didn't notice the boy until it was too late: he dropped the jar onto her head, making the sand and seashells fly all over the girl's bed and the floor. It made his mother stop.

Angrily she turned around and hit the boy. Tadashi, a tiny for his age, was flung at the wall.

"You make me do this," his mother mumbled to herself, "you make me do this. This is all your fault," she pulled out a sharp knife from her sleeve, "don't look at me like this it is your fault that you have to die. When you are gone," she bent down, grabbed her son's throat and held the knife at it, "when you are gone I'll be free."

But Lady Asami of the great Minamoto family should never be free. The shock awakened her daughter's inherited powers. Saeko lifted the sand up without knowing what she was actually doing. The girl only had to say one word: "stop." The sand wrapped around her mother, making the woman step back from Tadashi.

"Stop it Saeko," there was panic in her voice, "stop it! Be a good girl and die! Die Saeko!"

Even if the girl had known how to, she wouldn't have stopped. The sand started spinning around her mother, winning speed with every second. Saeko held up her hand, tightening the sand whirl around her mother. Finally reaching the woman's skin, the sand tore on her clothes, ripping the fabric apart. It worked like harsh sandpaper as it reached Lady Asami's skin, slowly shredding it.

The woman was laughing like a maniac at first, but the sand shredding her body turned her voice to screams which still rung in the children's ears, when she was already gone.

Tadashi had picked up the knife, taken his sister and run. Weeks later they arrived at Sunagakure and it took them again days to be allowed to talk to the Kazekage, their father. The siblings had found their family, yes. But only when they had been put in different teams after graduation, they realized they couldn't stay with each other forever. While Tadashi had tried to move on and start a new life, making friends and going to the academy, Saeko was excluding herself. Whom did she ever need, if her brother would protect her from all bad?

And now this brother had thrown a knife at her. That one person that would never hurt her…

* * *

Saeko had forgotten that she was in a test and that her brother was probably only trying to make her fight for real. Well, he succeeded in the later one.

"Oh shit," Tadashi frowned and jumped backwards. His sister had raised an arm towards him and the sand started targeting the boy. She didn't use as much sand as her father did. She only needed a small portion of it that she carried around in a small bag with a pink bow on it. The amount wouldn't be dangerous, but the way she wielded it, made it lethal:

Saeko wouldn't kill through pressure. She would shred her opponent into millions of small pieces, leaving only a bloody sand tornado. And the only necessity for this tactic was speed. And oh she was fast.

Her brother though knew what he was doing. With quick fingers he pulled out two pocket sized metal fans. His aunt always wanted him to use one as big as hers, but Tadashi preferred the small ones. The tessen jutsu fans were light, with razor sharp edges. If the boy wanted, he could just throw them and cut through flesh with ease. But to fight his sister, all he had to do was active his chakra, call onto the wind and simply blow Saeko's sand away.

"Wind Release," he grinned, "Sickle weasel technique!" Tadashi waved his fans. Two small wind tornados shot towards Saeko and scattered her sand all over the place.

"Did you really think I would provoke you without knowing what I was doing? Shame on you sis. You know better!"

"You… you just caught me…" she mumbled. The girl had no clue where her sand would have fallen, so she simply raised her arms, demanding all of the surrounding sand to rise into the air. Yes, using her own sand was a lot easier because it was already infused with her chakra, but she was quick to utilize what amount of sand she needed. One of her arms sunk again while the other rose up, gathering the sand above her head, "please brother: please give up or I have to riddle you with my sand! I don't want that!"

"Of course you don't want that," the red haired boy laughed, "but I still won't give up! And all I need," he bent down a little, his arms spread to gather more wind with his fans, "is this one technique!"

Saeko still had her hand up. It was shaking slightly, "I hope you are right brother…"

She let her hand fall. The sand formed into thousand tiny orbs and shot down, towards Tadashi. But the boy had already acted.

With all his power he pulled the fans in front of his face, releasing the same two wind whirls towards the attacking sand – just this time much stronger.

Sand met wind and for one second everything was wrapped into a huge cloud of dust. When it finally settled, both children were standing where they had been, arms dropped down, watching each other.

"You blew the sand away…" Saeko looked at her brother with huge eyes.

He did the same, but with a much more serious look, "you see Saeko: You cannot hurt me. Nor do you need me to protect you. And I will never harm you."

"Is this... a promise..?"

"It is. And now," Tadashi raised his right arm high into the air, "now I give up."

End of Chapter 25

* * *

_**Welcome back!**_

_It's been a while, how have you been? I'm having quite some stuff to do (my bachelor thesis isn't going as smooth as I want). Right now I am working on "Finding Papa", "Our Dream" and a short story about Shisui Uchiha (which is half way done, but I won't upload it until I'm completelly satisfied with it). And I have two more short storys in the pipeline coming later this year... This is going to be a lot of work. Speaking of work... What am I going to do as soon as I have submitted my thesis? It feels right now like I'm running towards a cliff - there is a hidden path somewhere, but since it's hidden I have no clue - and I cannot stop...  
_

_But let's talk about the chapter:  
First Bolt wins his fight - he was lucky if you ask me. The boy is getting more and more cocky as the story advances. Writing this chapter I realized that the upcoming Boruto movie is going to have a similar plotline. I just hope the movie will be awesome.  
Tadashi and Saeko though are a different story. They are siblings, they only trust each other (I don't think Gaara was ever truly accepted by Saeko as her father and somebody she could trust) and they have never been bid against each other. While Tadashi is somewhat afraid of his twin sister, she is afraid of everybody in this world to treat her like her mother did. The only exception is her brother... But he doesn't want to always be the one she relys on. Tadashi wants his own life, his own adventures... But how do you explain that to somebody like Saeko? She is more like her mother, than she want to be. _

_What did you think about this chapter? Did you like it? I think the next chapter will be on schedule - if my thesis is going where I want it to. The third part of the chunin exams is slowly coming to an end and I have already done the lineout for what is next. _

_Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! I really appreciate it!_

**_Your Usagi_**

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**_Songs mentioned:_**

_Studio Ghibli - Warabeuta (_わらべ唄)

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**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you all for your reviews! You are the best!  
Since I didn't answer any reviews last time, I'll be answering the ones on chapter 23 &amp; 24 now:  
_

_Chapter 23:_

_**Rdk3**: Thank you for the praise and thank you sooooo much for the review! I had to prepare a lot of stuff to make it a good fight and hearing that you loved it, makes it worth the effort! It really gave me a headache though XD About Sasuke... I don't know if he will be proud or happy. Or if he doesn't like it. In this story he was the one who told Sarada not to develope the sharingan, since he knew it would only be achieveable through emotional pain - something he didn't want her to experience. But he'll probably be cool with it as long as it's no Mangekyou :) Thank you again for your most awesome review! Please stay tuned, see you next week! Your Usagi  
_

_**KarliCM**: Thank you for your most kind review! Sarada wasn't in this chapter, but she'll certainly be in the next few! I need to get this story moving! Thank you very much! See you soon! Your Usagi  
_

_**The Guest**: Thank you for the review! I'm happy to hear you liked it :3 How did you like the Gaiden ending? Stay tuned and see you next week! Your Usagi  
_

_Chapter 24:_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Hey there! Oh camp sounds good! I hope the weather was fine? Yep, Bolt and Sarada have yet to realize it, but nobody understands them quite as they understand each other. And they would probably never admit it XDD and with Shizumasa - you are quite right. There is a storm coming. With the three kids in the middle. but I can't tell you too much yet . sorry! I hope you liked this chapter too! Thank you for the review and see you soon! Your Usagi  
_

_**Dark princess**: Thank you for the review! Yes, Gaiden was a blast! But it's so sad that the Boruto Movie is going to conclude it all... Aaaah man T.T Thank you and hopefully see you next week :D Your Usagi  
_

_**CaauweKilla**: Welcome! Thank you very much for checking my story out! I'm happy if I can provide, well, quality entertainment XD Please stay tuned! Till next week! Your Usagi  
_


	28. Chapter 26: Behind the Scenes

Chapter 26: Behind the Scenes

It was obvious: The crowd was getting tired. Today's fights had been exiting and all they wanted was to get out of the arena, grab a drink and discuss what they had seen. Or to get the children to bed and meet their friends at the bath house. Or enjoy another evening snacking at the market.

But there was still one fight to endure, so everybody was still seated, waiting for Suihi vs Shizumasa. Though when suddenly the arena was cleaned of the landscape and the platform was brought up with the participants, they grew vary.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! We deeply apologize for the long day! But we have a great announcement for you: Since Lord Shizumasa dropped out of the tournament, the fighting is concluded for-"

"What?!"

The announcement went down in screams and surprised gasps. Sarada and Bolt shared an alarmed looked. What had happened? Why would Shizumasa drop out? Why would the self-assured, arrogant, single-minded Shizumasa, son of the current daimyo and possible candidate for succession, drop out of the one tournament that could change his life?

Sarada turned to her white haired roommate who looked just as shocked as the other two, "did you know about this?"

"I had no idea! But he can't drop out! I need to fight and win to advance!"

"That idiot! Why he is doing this," that was Bolt, "I mean like… He always told us how much depended on him performing awesome here…"

The only one not jumping into the discussion was Saeko. The redhead already knew her next fighting partner and was watching the Uchiha carefully, searching for strengths, weaknesses… anything she could use to win.

"Please! Please stay calm," the announcer yelled into the stadium, "you needn't worry about it! The fight Houzuki Suihi vs Lord Shizumasa will end with Houzuki Suihi as the winner and we can proceed to the semi finale!"

No one was happy with that explanation that was nothing but a statement. The people were basically told "there is a reason, but we are not going to tell you because we don't want to". There was nothing to do but sit back down (if you had jumped up in surprise) and wait for the semi finale pairings to be announced.

It was a curious combination this year: Three girls and one boy had made it this far. Well, it wasn't comparable to some years ago when almost all contestants in the preliminaries had been female (it was the famous year in which Hatake Hanare had blown up most of the arena in her final fight). Usually the females were less in number and it was common to have a mix of 14 boys to 4 girls after the second exam. This was not because the girls were less capable, but less in number from the start: Most families agreed on sending their sons to become shinobi, but only a third of the daughters was send. The usual combination since long ago had been a three man cell with two boys and a girl (if available). Throughout the last years this trend had changed slightly (the mortality rate had dropped highly after the fourth war) and more and more girls, as also less boys had been admitted to the academies. This trend made it possible for all girls' teams (like the one Momoka was in).

When the crowd had calmed down a little, the announcer continued his speech from before. Sarada and Bolt shared one last worried glance and walked back to their positions on the platform: when in the beginning they had been standing almost shoulder to shoulder with one another because of the headcount, each of them stood on their own now, facing the crowd

"Let's continue," the announcer said hesitantly, "well… after tomorrows break-day with the super cute and extremely awesome introduction of the ninja academies from all over the continent, we are going to have two days with the semifinals!"

The crowd gave an exhausted cheer.

"As you all know, the semi finale takes place on two separate days-" a moan from the crowd "-after the academy show tomorrow! Therefore we now present the pairing for semi finale B!"

It got all dark in the arena. Suddenly, pictures of previous fights flashed over the screens everywhere. "On day two you will see the epic fight between two girls from two very different places. One, with hair as dark as the night with a special blood – the other kissed by fire with the powers of her father: UCHIHA SARADA vs SABAKUNO SAEKO!"

The people actually looked up from their seats. This combination would make the battle worth watching. The last one had been very short, like all of Saeko's fights had been. But that was because she hadn't fought any threatening enemies yet: Chocho didn't have the skillset to oppose Saeko and Tadashi, the brother, didn't want her to loose. But Sarada was a different thing. She had fought Inojin, not a big of an opponent, but enough to show of her taijutsu powers. And today Kadaj had drawn out some of her other powes. This fight was truly promising.

"But behold – there is more," the announcer congratulated himself on stirring up the crowd a bit, "we have seen her fight a friend and win our hearts, we saw him triumph in the funniest ways you can over his enemies – pairing A: HOUZUKI SUIHI vs UZUMAKI BOLT!"

The crowd was tired. They gave a clap to this pairing, but were happy as they were finally allowed to leave.

* * *

Bolt didn't go down to the market. He didn't have a bath or wanted to grab a drink with anyone. As soon as he was allowed to leave, Bolt made his way up to the quarters. After taking a shower, he went to the common room. He got himself a bottle of unsweetened green tea and opened the window. It was a starless night, but there was the moon high above. It wasn't full, but not half a moon.

"Maybe three quarters…" the boy mumbled and took a sip.

"You won't sleep if you drink too much green tea," a voice from behind joked. Bolt shrugged.

"Who cares? Tomorrow is free anyways."

Konohamaru closed the door to the common room and joined his student at the window.

"A beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Hm…"

"Are you even looking," the teacher reached out for his student, "…you are not even looking at the moon, are you." Konohamaru turned a little and faced the boy, "what troubles you? You did well today."

Bolt didn't answer. He looked at the half empty bottle of tea and threw it out of the window.

"You are going to pick that up later," the teacher scolded.

"I… I have my father's technique," his voice was barely above a whisper, "I have my grandmothers chakra and chain technique and I can somewhat use my grandfather's power."

"Yes... isn't that good?"

"No it's not!"

"Why?"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T DO ANY OF IT WELL ENOUGH!" Bolt's cheeks were red, his hair stood away like after an electric shock and his eyes fixated Konohamaru with a mixture of anger and sadness.

"What-"

"I can barely use the chains," the boy raised his arms, wildly throwing them around, "I can sometimes use the rasengan and I can even use a 'light' version of the flying thunder god technique! But do you know the problem with all of these? ME! I mean," Bolt grabbed his head, "I am not good enough! My chains are ok, the rasengan isn't useable except for in emergencies and the thunder god thingy… It's just moving very fast without looking from one point to a marked point! It's not the real thing…"

The boy turned his back to the window and slowly slid down onto the ground while talking, "I'm a failure…"

Konohamaru thought about it for a second. Bolt was right to some degree: He knew the basics to three great techniques that he would be able to use in combat. But if you always use basics, you stay basic. And there is usually no time for shinobi to perfect more than one forbidden technique. (Hence, you ignore the fact that it's a forbidden technique.)

"What do you want to do..?" The teacher sat down next to his student.

"Huh," the boy looked up.

"I was the one who taught you the thunder god technique. I'm your teacher… If you want to…" Konohamaru looked up, "I could always step back from being your teacher and give you to more capable hands."

Bolt's eyes widened, "no way! There is no better teacher for me!"

"And your father?"

"My father… my father is the worst… he-"

There were steps in the corridor. Someone opened the door.

"Hey guys –why is the light out?" The person flipped the switch. The Hokage smiled at his son, "Bolt you did great today! Hinata told me how you fought that guy from the sand village and-"

"Did you watch my fight?"

"No, I-"

"I'm going to bed."

Bolt was up in a fluid motion. He nodded to Konohamaru and ran past his father quickly.

Naruto stood in the middle of the room like he had just seen a ghost. After a silent sigh, Konohamaru got up.

"Sorry but he doesn't seem to be in the mood for chatting." He gave his superior a 'you know what I mean' look.

"But… wasn't he just…" Naruto pulled over a chair to sit down on. He buried his face in his hands, trying to take in a deep breath.

Bolt had always been a child hard to handle: when he was three he insisted on teaching his just born sister how to walk. At five he practiced to fight, only to get stopped by his father – the boy overdid it. But Bolt would only smile and say "Papa when you are Hokage, I need to protect Mama and Himawari!" Naruto would hug his son, but when the child was around seven years old, he would start behaving… different. He'd paint insults onto the Hokage monument, not even tell his father good night or even smile at him…

"Brother Naruto…?" Konohamaru wasn't sure what was happening. His mentor, role model and friend was sitting there, in the middle of the room, reminiscing about what he had done wrong… on what topic?

"Where did I go wrong..? Bolt is my son but… he won't talk to me… he won't tell me what's wrong. Whenever he is mad, it's my fault…" Naruto looked up. He tried to find the answers in his friends face, but Konohamaru didn't have any children yet. He wasn't even close to having some ever in the future. How was he supposed to answer a question like this? Yes, he was Bolt's teacher. But Konohamaru still had problems understanding the boy.

"Hokage-sama… I don't think its what you are doing… it's more like… what you are not doing," Konohamaru pulled over a second chair and sat down across from his role model, "he needs some father-son time."

"You think that would solve the problem?"

"Or a more or less loud word in private?"

"I don't want to scold my son because he is angry at me. Wouldn't that make it worse?"

"Or it's just what he needs… Hey, I'm not the right person to discuss this with. Maybe you should ask your wife…"

Naruto nodded. He gave the teacher a quick pat on the shoulder, got up and left the room.

Something in Konohamaru's pocket vibrated. He pulled out his cellphone.

"Ako? You just read my mind… Yes I need a drink. A strong one," the man grinned, "you are in town? Ok I'm coming over!" And he took the shortcut out of the window.

* * *

Bolt would lay awake almost all night. He thought about himself, his past fights and the challenges ahead. There was one thought that crystalized in his head:

The way I am now, I can't beat Sarada. I need to sort my shit out.

* * *

The city of Keishi was a huge Moloch of a city with everything the people's hearts desired. Built around the holy tree, with the highly frequented Unity arena on the west side, the daimyo's palace had been built in the east. It was a huge areal:

Beautiful gardens, a maze and a lakeside surrounded a castle complex with three outer walls, it's own market, servants homes and of course, the seven story Seirin caslte (Seirinjo). It's graceful design, white walls and exquisite defensive work made it a popular tourist spot. But since the ruling family was still seated there, commoners weren't allowed to enter the area behind the outer wall. If they had been allowed in the castle, they would have found an old well as the center of it. With the well in the middle, it was possible to easily bring water up to the top floor, where the daimyo himself resided on tatami mats and upper-class futon. The second floor from the top had been reserved for his late wife and children, the third was the official living area, followed by the government floor, kitchen floor and working area. It was rumoured that there was a basement too, but there had never been any evidence of it. The people said, if the daimyo wanted to get rid of somebody, he threw them into a cell beneath the castle, so that they may never see the light of day again.

Murasaki didn't even raise an eyebrow when hearing the indecent servants joke about the topic. Usually he would relieve them of their duties, which meant he would cancel their employment. Just 15 years ago he would have them publically executed, but since his father thought the royal family shouldn't use this kind of punishment anymore, he could swear the servants became more and more cocky.

The prince was sitting in his study. Troublesome times were laying ahead and he was preparing some paperwork, as he was approached from behind a paper wall.

"My prince," a female voice said.

"You shall talk," Murasaki didn't even look up from his paper, "there is no one around beside us." He didn't truly trust the woman, but she was just a woman. He was able to protect himself from her. She was a mysterious one: always creeping around in the shadows. The only thing he certainly knew was, that her hair once had been short and red.

"Yes my prince… My spies have given me notice that Uchiha Sasuke is still in the south with no intention of coming back. He will not interfere."

"Good. I wish to proceed with my plans as soon as possible," he took his feather, immersed it with ink and started to write a letter.

"I take the matter of succession has been taken care of," the woman asked. Foolish woman.

"Yes, it has been. The boy will be no problem. And as soon as we have executed my plans, I will marry the Minamoto family's youngest girl. She will give me trueborn sons and an heir.

"I assume your wife will-"

"She will share her fate with my father," Murasaki got impatient, "I wish to execute the plans tomorrow."

"My prince it might be wise to wait one more week," the woman said. He didn't answer, therefore she went on, "if anything should go wrong, which I highly doubt: The most powerful shinobi in this world have been assembled just on the other side of town. I have my daughter watching over them, spying on them, but if the Hokage decided to interfere, the other Kage would ralley behind him. We wouldn't be able to reach our goal in this case."

Murasaki thought about it for a second. Of course, she was right. He had waited almost 30 years for his enthronement. Waiting another week was nothing.

"Very well… One more week. Now, be gone woman. And next time announce your visit."

But she was already gone, somewhere into the night.

End of Chapter 26

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**_Hey I tried to be on time ;)_**

_I feel like the story is jumping around on the same spot since four chapters. Actually since the third exam started. The time is slowly crawling on and we have a lot of character developement, but I finally want to get back to Sarada and Bolt! But on the other hand: I don't want to throw OC's at them like "That's the situation! Deal with it" what a lot of writers do. I want good backstorys that entangle with the maincharacters fate! How hard can that be T.T_

_This chapter is mostly for setting up the next story arc. In the end, there are just some more fights to go and we will see Hotaru again... I like him. I like him actually better than Mitsuki. But that's probably because I created him ^^"_

_What did you think about the chapter? I hope you enjoyed it! Wheater you did or not: Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Thank you for reading "Finding Papa"!_

**_Your Usagi_**

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**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you very very much for reading "Finding Papa" and for leaving reviews! Your reviews keep me going!_

_**CaauweKilla**: Thank you for the review! It's good to hear you like Saeko and Tadashi... I just hope Saeko doesn't go to hard on Sarada. Or rather.. Hope that they leave the arena intact! Thank you very much again! See you next week! Your Usagi  
_

_**Dark princess**: Hey there! Thank you for the review! Saeko vs Sarada is going to be one hell of a fight! And don't worry about the upcoming movie: Naruto is indestructable! I don't get why everybody thinks he'll die. The same goes for the rest of the cast. I just hoped that the movie would adress why Kaguya needed an army. But I highly doubt we will ever find out... And yes! I do remember your request! I just have no idea about a possible plot... Thank you again! See you nxt week! Your Usagi  
_

_**Sarah**: Thank you for the review :)  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Don't worry! Having a life is better than being stuck online! LIVE! But thank you for the review! And I'm -once again- amazed how you read between the lines. And how right you are: Yes, if Tadashi had wanted, he would have won! And I acutally have a chart on which I lined out who is going to fight who, who has what power,... A short review, a good review! Thank you very very much! See you next week and: Just live your life ;)  
_


	29. Chapter 27: The Fame

Chapter 27: The Fame

"This is the last week of April! The sun is shining, it is 16° Celsius! I am Trisha and this is my colleague Misha! Welcome to our chunin exams semi finale special!"

Trisha was a woman in her mid-twenties. She wore an expensive dress, matching shoes and jewelry. Her colleague Misha was a little older than her, wearing a grey suit and red tie. He held up his microphone and smiled at the camera, revealing bleached white teeth.

"Thank you Trisha for the nice introduction," he winked, "the semi finales are approaching fast and we bring you the inside report. Right now we have two very special guests. Please welcome tomorrow's competitors: Houzuki Suihi and Uzumaki Bolt!"

The two kids were sitting on a couch in between the two announcer guys. Suihi's head was tomato red and she was sitting there like ready to run as fast as the devil, while Bolt looked like he regretted not running fast enough away from the reporters before. The boy had sunk deep into the cushions.

Misha, seated on a bar chair and therefore a little higher than the kids, bent down a little, "so Bolt – I may call you Bolt? Thanks' dear. So, are you exited yet for tomorrow?"

Bolt looked at the man like he was about to kill him, "yeah… I'm totally exited… Can't wait for it…"

"And what about you," Trisha's smile was just as radiant as Misha's. Suihi looked to the floor. It felt like if she looked again, she would go blind. The wooden tiles were so much friendlier than those two adults – or the camera.

"I am excited, I guess. But not as excited that I would run around the stadium to blow off steam, more the good kind of excited. If there was time I would bake a cake and eat it all by myself or give it to other people or preserve it for tomorrows match and throw it at Bolt's face or I could just sleep the whole-"

"That's really nice my dear," Trisha stopped Suihi in her rant. It was Misha's turn again.

"So the two of you made it to the semi finale. We have some nice videos about your progression to this point," Misha looked at the camera, "please enjoy after a short commercial break!"

The lights went out and the whole set came to life. The two moderators, Suihi and Bolt were sitting on a set with comfy lounge furniture in front of a green screen. The boy actually got a glimpse on a screen behind the camera: The green background had been replaced with the picture of a veranda.

A young man came over to the competitors. He opened a case filled with make-up.

"Ok you two – sit straight boy! I need to powder you."

"Powder us WHAT?!" Bolt was up in a second. Up on the backrest of the couch, "you won't touch me! No no no!"

"Ooooh cutie I'm sorry but you got the wrong impression here," the man rolled his eyes, pulled out a brush and started to fling it over Suihi's face. The girl, just in time, closed her eyes. Bolt slowly crawled back down into his spot, deep between the cushions. Someone from behind though roughly pushed him forward and stuffed another cushion behind his back to keep him from sinking in again. The boy growled angrily and suddenly had the powder brush in his face.

A second later some guy called and everybody got back into their place.

"3… 2… 1…"

"Welcome back ladies and gentleman to Nissou TV! Yesterday we asked you to submit your questions to the candidates on and we are here to ask them for you now. This program is sponsored by Kyuuketsu juices and here is your first question," Misha narrowed his eyes and read the words on the screen next to the camera aloud, "to Bolt: how does it feel to be the son of the most powerful guy in the world?"

Bolt looked at the suited man.

"Is this a joke question?"

"I don't think so," Misha smiled professionally, "just answer the question please."

"I don't get any of that 'most powerful guy' thing. I couldn't care less."

"Let's have a question for Suihi," Trisha put her hand on the girls shoulder, eyeing her colleague nervously, "is it true that Suihi is the daughter of Cloud and Sephiroth – what kind of question is this?" Trisha looked at the director but he only shook his head and send someone upstairs to the digital management.

Suihi answered nonetheless, "I don't know these people. And I assure you, my parents aren't called like… this…" She had a very confused look on her face.

"uhm… let's just ask Bolt another question." Misha was trying to keep the show going, "so… Judging from your last performances: do you even use your brain, class clown?"

It was silent for a second.

"Ok you don't have to answer such a weird question, Bolt." Trisha looked at the boy, "how about we talk about your strategy in your first fight?"

"No…" Bolt got up and the camera shifted to his face, "you guys listen. Now! I always have a strategy, even if you cannot see it. I am not my father! I am called Uzumaki Bolt! I am a fighter raised in Konoha and I will kick this girls butt just as I have kicked the other two idiots butt," Bolt was pointing straight into the camera. He had a wild, angry look on his face now. "And this goes straight to Uchiha Sarada: you'd be pathetic to loose against that Suna girl! So get your ass to the finale and I'll kick you through the arena! Bolt out!"

And with these last words he punched his right inner elbow with his left arm, making his right fist go up with the middle finger standing straight up and finally leaving the studio.

* * *

The common room at the hostel was silent after the announcement Bolt had just made. Everybody was staring at the screen. Nissou TV was playing a commercial right now.

Suddenly someone in the back was starting to giggle. The giggling evolved and that someone was laughing hard.

Hotaru was sitting in his chair. More like almost falling off: it had taken him some seconds to take in what Bolt had said, but when it finally reached him, the chocolate guy couldn't hold it together. He simply burst out into laughing, not caring that the whole room was staring at him.

"Uhm… Hotaru..? Are you alright," Momoka wasn't sure what to say. She looked at him worried. Maybe he had just lost his mind? Maybe this was a side effect of being in a coma for almost a year..?

It took him another minute, but eventually Hotaru settled down again. He had tears in his eyes.

"Sorry Momoka…" the people gave him one last confused look and turned away, ",I just couldn't stop myself… this was gold…"

The girl held her hands up to her mouth, "I don't know what you are talking about. He was very rude…"

Hotaru stood up from his chair, "yeah he was."

"Where are you going?" Momoka looked up as the boy was making his way towards the door, ready to follow.

"Just toilett."

"Ok see you later!"

Hotaru rolled his eyes, what she couldn't see. He opened the door and walked out. His feet though didn't lead him to the toilets, rather to the exit of the hostel he was staying in. Time without anybody around him was rare. Either way there were his roommates, a doctor or Momoka around him. He grabbed his jacket at the door, put on his shoes and quickly left.

The announcer had been right. It was a nice day. A not too hot nor too cold day of spring. The alley down to the event area near the lake with the market was barely crowded. A quick look at the huge white clock told Hotaru that it was noon. Maybe he would get himself something from the combini. One or two onigiri would be nice. He hadn't had them in a long time.

While choosing the flavor (in contrary to the popular opinion, he actually liked umeboshi, the pickled plums), he started to think about Bolt. The blonde idiot hadn't looked happy. But who would? Being on display, vulnerable to the public in an interview with questions that were just not appropriate. Which were hurting Bolt probably more than he would admit. And Hotaru knew these hurt. They had been friends throughout their academy time and gotten even closer after being put into the same team. They wouldn't talk about themselves much (the boys were mostly occupied being as awesome as possible. Nobody had told them that they looked ridiculous most of the time…), but there had always been a mutual understanding. If Hotaru was having a hard time again, because some old geezers had been joking on his skin color, Bolt would defend his friend fiercely and send the old men into a horrific shock by exposing them as racist idiots to everybody around. And Hotaru didn't even have to ask for it.

On the other hand, the chocolate boy would offer Bolt a place to stay for as long as he needed, when he was fighting with his father again. Bolt never stayed over more than two nights because he knew he had to help his mother in the household and his sister with her homework. But these days and nights were when Bolt was actually behaving like a normal boy in contrary to his usual behavior.

And asking Bolt about his relationship with his father or about his fighting style (Hotaru admitted: Bolt had a very interesting way to fight, but until now it had been quite successful) was just inappropriate. Hotaru had seen the outburst coming as soon as the blonde had appeared on the screen, sunk into his cushions. He didn't anticipate the type of outbreak though and started to laugh at what Bolt had chosen to say and to do.

After paying Hotaru made his way towards the lake. He sat down on a bench and enjoyed his umeboshi onigiri, watching some kids play at the stony shore.

"Where Sarada is…" he mumbled and shoved the last piece of rice into his mouth.

* * *

Some birds were flying in between the trees. They were singing/shouting at each other.

Sarada hated their voices. Yes, they could be soothing, but most of the time they were just annoying. Especially when Uchiha Sarada was training. The girl was just standing in the middle of training ground, her eyes closed.

Her teacher Kakashi, had the brilliant idea to play hide &amp; seek at the training grounds, to make her sensible for her encounter with Sabakuno Saeko. Sarada just didn't see the point. She knew what she was in for: A sand ninja using sand to scrub of the flesh from the body. What she needed to fight Saeko, was in Sarada's opinion speed. But what did her teacher care? Kakashi explained to her that there was no way of making her fast enough within two days to "run away" from the sand. But he could help her get sensible for coming attacks. Therefore she wore a blindfold and Kakashi hid himself somewhere around: maybe in the small shack with equipment? Or behind the fence? The forest was also a nice option.

Sarada just wished he'd cut the crap.

"I found you," she said and pointed at a bush in the area.

"Oh nice one," Kakashi stepped out of the bush and Sarada took off the blindfold. He was reading one of these perverted books again.

"Can we please stop now? I need real training if I'm to win against Saeko…" the girl threw the cloth away and put her hands on her hips.

"Do you really need to win this fight? Judging from what I have seen there is a very high chance that you are going to be promoted to chunin anyways. And you even used one small lighting jutsu. I think you outdid yourself already," Kakashi closed the book and looked at his student, "there will always be situations in your life when training is not going to help you getting through and this might be one of those."

"So you are telling me that I have no chance of winning," Sarada was offended. Why would her teacher, the one person that was supposed to cheer on her, say something like that, "do you think I'm not strong enough?"

Kakashi sighed, "That's not what I mean. You are strong, Sarada. With all that I have seen you do yet, I think that you are the strongest genin in this tourney. But there will always, be opponents that you won't be able to beat because you can't counter their powers."

"You told me my father dominated over the former Kazekage. And he is using the same sand, right? Even stronger than the girl!"

"Yes. But she is not her and you are not your father."

"Thanks I almost forgot…" Sarada snapped at him and Kakashi buried his face in his hands.

"Look, a good friend of mine once said this: Luck is also part of your strength."

"…so… you think I can only win with luck..?"

"You have all the 'tools' you need to win this fight. All that is left, is a little bit of faith and trust and-"

"…a little bit of fairy dust… yeah I get it." Sarada rolled her eyes. She went over to the tool shack and grabbed a bottle of water. Kakashi followed her.

"Why do you so desperately want to win?"

For a moment there was silence between them. Sarada drank some water and turned around.

"Because I promised Bolt that we'd meet in the finale. I promised that we'd finally settle our score. And I could never forgive myself if I didn't meet his expectations."

"I see," Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "you kids have more in common with your parents than I expected. I believe you can do it and that you will fight Bolt in the finale."

At first Sarada wanted to say something snappy again, but instead her cheeks turned red and she smiled.

"Thank you, sensei."

End of Chapter 27

* * *

**_Welcome back my dear readers,_**

_how are you feeling? I hope you are alright! I'm turly sorry for the long wait and even more sorry for the hiatus notice. But there was no way I could have gone on writing while working on my bachelor thesis. The chapters would have been half assed, delayed and stuff. So I took four weeks off. I'm sorry. But I'm back! That's something, right?  
_

_This chapter is more or less the last deep breath before the climax of the chunin exams. The kids are getting settled, mentally (and physically) prepared to make their way to the top. Next chapter will be Bolt vs Suihi. I guess it'll be on time!_

_I have some more good news! I found someone to be my Beta - which means I will be able to upload much higher quality chapters from next week on probably. There are some projects I'm working on paralel (short stories) and there is a lot you can look forward to this autumn!_

_So how did you like this rather short chapter? Please leave me a review, so that I can enhance my writing!_

_Thank you very much and see you next week_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answer_**

_Thank you all for reading and leaving a review! You are awesome!_

_**Rdk3**: I really do love your reviews. It's always delightful to read them, because you can see them from different angles. What I notice reading other peoples fanfiction, is that (the longer these get) the plots are often just pop up. This is also the case in a lot of officially published storys (Naruto itself is a good example). I don't want that for my story. I want it to feel like all characters have complex lifes and that every character being there has a meaning to it. If I am correct with my calculations, this is just the first quater of the whole story. And maybe it might not come across why these characters are necessary right now, but each one of them will play at least once an essential role in the story of Sarada and Bolt.. so yeah you are probably right: I've put my pieces on the chessboard and am ready to make the first move XD Thank you so much for the review! And sorry to have kept you waiting... Your Usagi  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: I know! And I'm sorry! Sorry for the long wait... Yeah, Konohamaru might be around 26-29 years old. but what I mean with "far from having kids himself" is that he doesn't have a real love interest. He likes Ako, but he feels like she doesn't take it as seriously. And if you look at it: most Naruto charas become parents between 19-23. And Konohamaru probably feels like he already ditched the right age. Boys. And yes, Tadashi has always protected his sister. And since they have been guarded by Gaara too, he didn't have to show off his powers too often. So Saeko had no clue what was coming XD Thank you very much! Sorry for the wait.. Your Usagi  
_

_**CaauweKilla**: Hey there! Thank you for the kind review and sorry for the long wait! Sasuke won't be back in the chapters until the end of the exam. But he'll be mentioned. And I'm sure Bolt wants to train with his father too! But I doubt Naruto has time...  
_

_**Dark princess**: Thank you for the review :3 The last chapter was to set up the following storyline. It may right now make not much sense, but the woman has already appeared and what it was all about will be answered some chapters from here ;) Thank you and sorry for the wait! Your Usagi  
_

_**Guest**: Thank you very much!  
_

_**saraswati**: Here you go and thank you very very much!  
_


	30. Chapter 28: Twists

Chapter 28: Twists  


Water was splashing all around, sharp like razors and almost undodgeable. The rain didn't help the situation either. Bolt couldn't see rat's ass through the stormy rain that was going down. The spectators couldn't see much either. Most of them had already brought rain capes and umbrellas, but with the spring storm there was not much helping it. The organizer had wanted to stop the fight when the rain started (the sponsoring companies argued that their logos couldn't be seen). They didn't though.

Bolt hadn't really grasped what was happening at first. He had stood in the middle of the arena, his semi finale fight just being declared to start. The only words he ever exchanged with his opponent, Houzuki Suihi, had been about her fighting Shizumasa. But since the fight had been cancelled (thanks to Shizumasa leaving the tourney), Bolt had never exchanged more than looks with her. Heck, he didn't even know anything about her. He hadn't watched her first fight after all. Small wonder that the boy was fairly confused when the girl did nothing but just look at him.

"Are we gonna fight or what," he asked, getting bored already. She didn't seem to care. Slowly her hand reached to the huge bag on her back, pulling it over her head, in front of Bolt. With a loud, damped sound it met the ground in front of her feet. It was a bulky leather bag.

"Don't tell me you plan on hitting me to death with this thing," Bolt rolled his eyes. His nerves had already been strained. This exam was taking forever and all he really wanted was to finally meet Sarada in a fight. Fighting that Suihi girl was just unnecessary.

Finally she reacted.

"Please don't mind me over here." She grinned revealing pointy, sharpened teeth. The girl waved at the sky and only a second later the black clouds had piled up above the arena, puzzling the staff. The clouds let down a heavy, but warm rain. Strangely only above the arena. This had been why the Hokage's right hand man Shikamaru had decided to not stop the match because of the rain. He suspected that one of them had a plan involving this storm.

Bolt wished somebody just aborted the match. He was wet to the bone, his mood ruined just as his clothes and he was shivering like an eel. As if heaven heard him, it stopped raining in the strangest way: The raindrops simply stopped falling midair. With fascination Bolt examined a raindrop that had halted right in front of his nose. Somewhere between the clouds the sun shone through, enlightening the water drops, making them reflect like millions of tiny diamonds. The whole arena was dazzled by this play of nature. Except for one person.

"Do you like it," Suihi pulled herself up from the ground. She was completely dry.

"You did this?" Bolt didn't know what to think of this, "This is not a beauty pageant, you know? We are not giving prices for the cutest ninjutsu. Can we please fight now?"

"Of course," she gave him an eye closing smile. A shiver ran down Bolt's spine. "Let's have some fun," Suihi grabbed something from the ground with both her hands. It was her sword. "I had it polished, cleaned and enhanced since my last fight and got it back just this morning. I'm sorry I didn't have time to assemble it before the fight." She smiled and Bolt observed the blade closely: It looked like it was mad of scrap metal parts, the blade was long, reflecting the sunlight.

"So let's do this," the girl positioned the sword in front of her, pointing at the boy. Bolt shock his arm, a kunai fell out and he charged forward. If she wanted to have a battle of blades, why not give it to her? Konoha kunai were made from the best metal achievable. Probably superior to her make-shift assembly sword in every way (maybe except transportation).

But Suihi just sliced through it. Just simply through the metal of Bolt's special kunai.

The boy quickly shifted and dived beneath Suihis blade that was already coming back at him like a boomerang. Bolt did a flick-flack backwards to avoid getting caught by the sharp edge. He quickly drew two more kunai to block.

"What? You wanted to fight. Are you already going home," Suihi followed him with a smile on her face.

Bolt clenched his teeth, trying not to reply something vulgar. His brain was working on a strategy to beat her already by listing the facts he knew: She was good with her crappy sword that wasn't too crappy at all. And she was probably to blame for the strange weather they had right now. I beg you: water droplets staying still midair? Doesn't sound too natural. And god those were annoying. Every time Bolt moved, he touched new ones and his clothes absorbed them. He was soaked to the bone with cold rain water just after seconds of blocking sword hits.

Suihi on the other hand was moving around as if the rain wasn't even there. The droplets seemed to be avoiding the girl. Her fighting style resembled a very complicated dance – Bolt would have admired her if she wasn't fighting him right now - and he was the one out of synch. Maybe if he could find the rhythm she was dancing to, he could get closer? Na, he thought, let's just do it the old-school way.

Bolt jumped into the air, his clothing heavy, drawing him down. But he didn't budge. With a simple sign he shot his chains at her.

Suihi jumped aside, avoiding two of them. She couldn't avoid the third one though: it wrapped around the upper part of her sword, making it unable to use.

"Now I got you," Bolt grinned and jumped, a kunai aiming straight for her. At first Suihi looked frightened. But the next second she was grinning too.

"Not so fast, goldie locks!"

Bolt was about to pierce her shoulder with his blade, when she pulled up her left arm and sliced straight over Bolt's chest. The power of the hit shoved the boy back.

"What the hell-"

"Sorry to disappoint you. But this blade is full of surprises," the white haired girl still held the sword handle with her right hand, but now the blade was only a frame. With her left hand she now wielded a much smaller blade: the one that she had just taken out of her big swords frame. Suihi cut off the chain holding her big blade. "I have seen your previous fights. I know all your little tricks. So…" she swung her swords around, "I prepared everything in advance. Even before I first used my sword, you were done."

"What do you-"it took Bolt just a second to realize it. He quickly pulled of his soaked jacket and threw it away, "don't tell me you can-"

"Oh I can! And you are already wet enough for me…"

Suihi cut the air straight, making the water droplets fly towards Bolt, soaking him just more. With another move of her left blade she gained control over the water in Bolts clothes. She pinned him straight into the air, his limps stretched helplessly away from him.

"I am from Kirigakure. Didn't you hear? We have the most cruel fighters… don't ruin the fun for me please," she smiled friendly.

"Bitch," Bolt grunted, unable to move. He watched as she directed him to a position she liked. His head was steaming from trying to find a way out. But he couldn't think of one. And he was Uzumaki Bolt! There was no way he'd give up.

Suihi finally ran towards him. With a quick strike from her right hand blade, she gave him another slash over the torso, marking him with a huge bloody X over his chest.

"And this," she united the swords again into one, "is where I will impale and end your miserable life, boy."

Bolt had closed his eyes. This was really happening, was it? His chest hurt, his clothes were bloody already and he couldn't move because that girl had power over the water in his pants, shirt and hair! How did he maneuver himself into such a misery? Hadn't he just yesterday given THE speech to everybody?

"Damn it…"

* * *

Sarada had been waiting outside the participant's balcony. She heard the cheering of the crowd, the drums, and their screams. Of course, she respected Bolt's "don't watch, to make our fight better" policy, but there was also her curiosity. Who'd win this match? If Bolt lost now, there was no need to pressure herself. Sarada wanted Bolt to win. She wanted to stand outside on the balcony, scream at the boy, yell at him with all her might. That he should win, stand up, kick Suihi's butt. But Suihi was a nice girl. Wishing for her butt kicked wasn't very ladylike, was it?

"May I?"

Sarada had been too deep in thought to notice somebody approaching her. The girl looked up and saw a woman with short red hair and frameless glasses.

"I'd like to enter. Is there anybody else in," the woman asked. Sarada thought she was a bit intimidating.

"I think it's empty," the black haired girl was thinking. She had seen this woman once, hadn't she?

"Thank you Sarada." The woman opened the door and entered the balcony, leaving a stunned Sarada behind. She must have met the woman at least once. How could she know her name any other way?

Sarada slid down at the wall and started polishing her glasses. Where did she meet her…?

A minute later the balcony door opened again and the red haired woman stepped outside.

"Take good care of those glasses," she smiled.

"Miss! Have we met?" Sarada slowly got up again. The red haired woman just smiled.

"No… But you may know my name. I'm Karin," she turned around and left.

Karin… Karin… where did I hear that name… Sarada was too deep in thought to notice much around her. She put her glasses back on and entered the balcony.

Only then she noticed how silent everybody had become.

Blood had been splattered all over the arena, while the ground had transformed into a swamp. And somewhere in the middle of it all stood Bolt. He was soaking wet and bleeding from his chest. With all the strength he could muster he was pointing a sword at Suihi. The girl was laying backwards in the mud, her limbs stretched out.

"Why did you just stop fighting," Bolt asked. The sound barrier had been lifted already, but even though there was a winner, nobody in the crowd was cheering: In one second it looked like the referee would have to stop the fight to keep Bolt alive, Suihi looked up, stumbled and wasn't able to control the water in the boys clothes anymore. And of course Bolt had taken advantage of it.

Sarada was watching the last few seconds being replayed form different angles on the big screens. Something wasn't right.

"W-w-well," the announcer tried to keep himself together, "the winner is Uzumaki Bolt! He is the first finalist!" Slowly the crowd began to cheer for Bolt, still with suspicion if this was the real outcome and not some genjutsu.

Bolt himself wasn't sure what was going on. He helped Suihi stand up, but she didn't even look at him. The boy's eyes searched over the ranks and met Sarada's. He slowly raised his fist towards the girl. Sarada grinned.

* * *

Suihi was running through the corridors. She was still muddy and leaving a dirty trail behind. In front of a door she checked her clothes before knocking, but there was really not much she could do about it. The girl knocked hesitantly.

"Come in," a female voice answered. The door opened the view into the VIP balcony. Suihi closed it behind herself and turned towards the red haired woman with the glasses.

"May I ask why you called me back?"

"Are you mad at me," Karin picked up a glass and filled it with wine.

"I just thought… you told me to get friendly with Sarada. To find out everything about her there is to know. I figured, I needed to meet her in the finale. You told me yourself just some nights ago. You remember? At the lake?" Suihi tried to wrap her head around everything. But it was no use.

Karin looked at the white haired girl, "watch your tongue. It was not my command. I simply told you what you were expected to do. But now the plans have changed," she nodded to the front of the balcony. An elderly, but very strict looking woman in a fine kimono sat next to another red haired girl.

"What is Saeko doing here," Suihi was puzzled.

"Just wait." Karin offered the girl a cup, but she declined.

On the other side of the arena, the announcer was back behind his microphone, "ladies and gentleman! I'm terribly sorry to keep you here for one more minute. At least the weather has cleared." Suihi sighed. "But we have an announcement to make. Participant Sabakuno Saeko has withdrawn from any activity as a shinobi and is therefore disqualified for this tournament."

It seemed like everybody gasped at once.

"What," Suihi looked at Karin, "you must be joking… To announce it this openly…"

"We needed a bigger fight," Karin explained, "a bigger fight to keep everyone's attention in the arena. And after Bolt's speech on TV yesterday it was quite clear which pairing we'd need. Just wait."

"Therefore," the announcer continued, "we must announce that the second semi-finale tomorrow will not be necessary. The pairing for the finale will be Uzumaki Bolt vs Uchiha Sarada. To close the three days gap the music festival and the unity party have been moved one day up. Thank you all for your attention! Please have a good day!"

In the front of the balcony, the old woman and Saeko got up from their chairs.

Karin slightly bowed to the elderly, "lady Minamoto, princess Saeko, may I present my daughter Suihi. She will be your guard until you arrive at the palace."

"Filthy little girl," the old lady Minamoto commented without even looking at her, "you should have her wash more often. Let's go."

"Of course milady. Have a good trip," Karin smiled and nodded towards her daughter to open the door for Saeko and her grandmother. Suihi did as asked and followed them down the hallway. Just like her mother had wished.

As soon as everybody was out of the balcony, Karin searched through her bag and found a scroll. She wrote a short message down, just to place it on another scroll. It only took her one hand seal to send the paper to the royal palace.

"And here we go," she grinned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bolt was laying in the medical ward. Three nurses at once were working on his X shaped wound. It hurt like hell. But of course: The brave warrior would not let anybody know. Therefore he clenched his teeth and winced only when they started to disinfect the wound.

Just minutes after they left him all bandaged up, someone knocked at the door.

"Hey there," Sarada stuck her head inside the room, "do you mind?"

"No, not at all! Take a seat," Bolt waved at the one chair in the room, regretting it the same moment since a sharp pain shot up his arm.

His friend noticed, "You look pale." Sarada sat down, examining him. The blood from the wound was already seeping through the bandages.

"That's just the light… but really… it was a strange fight."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"She was about to get me," Bolt coughed, "she was running towards me, ready to kill me. Looked up, stumbled, threw her blade into the dirt and all I had to do was punch her two times… I shouldn't have won. I couldn't have…"

Sarada thought for a second, "it does sound strange. But I have something even stranger: Saeko dropped out."

"WHAT?!" Bolt would have jumped onto his feet, but the pain was keeping him down.

"Maybe you should get some painkillers."

"No! I'm fine… Tell me all you know about what's going on with Saeko!"

Sarada raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, "well, she stopped being a ninja. She quit. Therefore she got disqualified… Which means-"

"-We'll be facing each other in the finale eventually…"

They looked into each other's eyes.

"Yeah, we will."

End of Chapter 28

* * *

_**Hello fellow readers!**_

_I hope you are doing well? And here I am back with chapter 28: Twists. Actually I wanted to call it "Lazare", after the awesome song used in _The Witcher III_. I listened to it, writing the fight scene. The game and the whole soundtrack are great, I can only recommend it!_

_A lot of things happened in this chapter. You finally know who Suihi actually is (and if you can't guess her father yet...). Next thing is: Shizumasa dropped out, Saeko quit.. What is going on?! What is Karin planning? Don't worry, you will get your answers pretty soon. _

_What's next up the agenda? Of course: Bolt vs Sarada. I am really curious how this fight will turn out. And of course - what about their reunion with Hotaru? And have Ako and Konohamaru finally made their "relationship" official? The climax of the chunin exams is finally arriving!_

_Thank you for reading Finding Papa! Please leave a review or send me a PM if there is anything you want to know or want me to know!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thanks to everybody who left a review since last week! It feels good to be back._

_**CrippleNinja:** Thank you! Please go on reading! I'll try to keep my weekly schedule ;)_

_**SoundlessWorld:** I'm so happy to be able to finally release some new chapters. I was sitting at home like "I WANNA GO ON WRITING!" and I couldn't.. T.T Well, officially there were three battles. But since we had one now and Saeko dropped out, there is just one left, isn't it? And I know the exam is long. But in comparison with what I have planned for the future, it's ok. And here you go! Your dose of Karin. XDD Thank you for the most kind review! I hoope to see you again next week :3 take care, your Usagi_

_**IamWhatIamBaby:** Hey there! Of course I remember you! It's been a while! How are you doing? Karin just needed to get Sasuke out of the way. And Gaara... well I don't think he'll like very much what his daughter is doing. The question is, if he is going to do anything about it... But trust me: There is more behind everything, than just getting them out of the way... Thank you for the review! I hope to see you soon! Your Usagi_


	31. Chapter 29: Rivals

Chapter 29: Rivals

Bolt was packing his things. It was the morning of his final battle with Sarada and he had finally been permitted to leave the hospital bed. It was goddamn time. And he could see that the doctors weren't happy to let him go. If they had any say in it, they'd probably pass a law to never have the chunin exams ever again. Or make the tests less harmful to the human body and psychology.

The numbers supported their claim: From 177 participants, 82 had been slightly injured, 25 were "just" injured, 18 seriously. Only 20 had not received any harm at all, but 32 were now receiving psychological treatment. It was a defeating statistic.

The Uzumaki brat didn't care though. All he wanted to do was beat the heck out of Sarada. He hadn't seen her since her visit two days ago. She was probably preparing herself for the battle right now. Bolt wasn't sure if he still wanted this fight. After one year of hating each other (he deeply regretted calling her four-eyes) they had kind of reconciled during the second part of the exam. Of course they were still hostile towards each other, but this was mostly due to them picking on each other at any given chance. But they had done this before. Something else had changed. Shizumasa was their friend, yes. But they didn't compete to gain his favor like they had usually when Hotaru had been around. Especially in the beginning they had tried to get their shit together, so they could cover him. Which wasn't really needed in the end.

The heck, Bolt was still wondering where the lordling could have gone to. He could have sworn: the second Shizumasa got out of the tourney, it would be a moment to remember. Once or twice the Hokage had decided to visit Bolt, but the boy hadn't wanted to see his father and he had pretended to be asleep each time. Now he regretted it. The Hokage might have known about where the lordling had run off to.

The blonde mussed through his hair. This was exhausting. And now even Saeko had abandoned the battle with Sarada.

He would never tell her, but Bolt had been afraid. Afraid for Sarada. Shikadai had told the blonde what had happened to the all-girls team of their generation. Saeko hadn't hurt one of them – physically. But one of the three girls had quit being a ninja, one of them was still in the hospital and no one had seen Momoka in over a month. Yes, Sarada was strong. Bolt admitted that much. But would she have been strong enough to defeat Saeko and advance to the finals?

Bolt closed his bag. He would never know who of the two girls was stronger. Saeko had chipped out and Sarada had advanced. And even though he was still suspicious about why Suihi had let him win, he was glad everything had played out this way. Now he would face her and he could protect her.

The boy blushed thanks to his own thought.

Well, not protect in a classic way, he corrected himself silently, no one needs to protect Uchiha Sarada for sure. But I can make sure to win, without hurting her too much. Yes. That sounds about right.

He grinned and left the infirmary. His sister and mother would pick him up for some ice cream before the fight.

* * *

The arena slowly filled with people. The atmosphere was astonishing: Someone was playing a trumpet, while their friends played drums. The speakers were louder than them, blasting cliché music over the tribunes. Most seated people were sipping on beer, eating their dinner consisting of pretzels and sausage on a stick. Some of them had put on their yukata to match the occasion (it was rare to get cards for the finale of the chunin exams after all) and since the fight would be live on TV, they wanted to look the best they could to impress the family members left at home.

The expectations for the fight were high. It was an all Konoha battle, a battle between a boy and a girl. Nisshou TV was already hosting debates on who would win. A bunch of people had placed bets and some schools were having trouble because the boys would yell stuff like "a girl could never win against a boy", while the girls would proudly explain that a lady would never loose either.

On TV though, the debates were as heated as ever: The adults would talk about why and what talents had made it possible for each participant to advance this far, some were collecting weak points on chalk boards (viewers would call if they remembered a special weak point), some women were having debates about why there weren't as many female shinobi as males and some elderly people were debating whether it was at all legal to have females anywhere else but the kitchen. Later discussion had been cancelled after all hell broke loose on : Around 3000 "quacks" (short messages with about 140 letters) about the topic had been submitted, most of them calling the debate bullshit. Though there were still some people who were harshly supporting it, making the debate on even worse than on Nisshou TV with people calling each other bad names and hundreds of account reports in a minute.

The TV station didn't do anything about it. The fight online just enhanced their viewer count.

Naruto Uzumaki had tried to avoid the media at all cost since the information that his son was participating had gone viral. Everybody and their mother wanted to know how he was supporting Bolt, if Naruto thought the boy would win, if he wanted his son to become Hokage too one day… But since it was the finale and since it was an all Konoha battle, there was no way he could get away without giving an interview. His adviser had taken matters into hand: He had handed out a catalogue with questions the interviewers were allowed to ask and no other questions would be answered. This was the easy part of his work. Making Naruto remember which questions to not answer was the hard part. Five minutes before the interview, Shikamaru was sure the Hokage would mess it up badly.

"Just please, don't do what your son did yesterday. Please," Shikamaru had buried his face in his hands. Naruto reassured him that there was nothing to worry about and he actually managed to do quite a good job.

"Did you really think I'd pull a Bolt," Naruto asked ten minutes after the interview, when the people had finally taken off the horrible microphone.

"You two share a lot of character traits. Even if you don't want to admit it… You should talk with the boy," the adviser was stroking his goatee, "he is your son and everything he does, reflects onto your reputation. And we need you all perfect because the people not from Konoha might get warry of a Hokage with rebellious kids and there are enough people around here who'd gladly use any excuse to have you replaced…."

"Oh come on! Don't meet trouble half way," Naruto tried to make Shikamaru smile. When he saw that it was no use, he decided to reassure him, "don't worry. I'll talk with Bolt as soon as this is over. I tried to talk to him at the hospital, but he was always asleep when I came over to scold him."

"Yes, he was asleep. Certainly. And about that topic with the crown prince? What did he want?"

Naruto sighed, "That was actually an especially harsh situation. I never talked with one of the royals before alone. He asked me if his brother's performance was sufficient."

"Why would he want to know this?"

"Wait for it. Murasaki asked me to make his brother a chunin and let him leave the exam. It was weird."

The two man had started walking down an almost empty hallway.

"Did you agree?"

There was no way that I could have declined without straining the fire country's relationship with the village… he was… polite but demanding. And the next day he had already taken Shizumasa and left the exam site. Do you think I should send the boy his admission? I mean, since he probably won't show up for the award ceremony?"

Shikamaru was thinking. He was trying to find a pattern in everything that had happened within the last two weeks: The crown prince of the fire country shows up and takes his brother away from the exam, just to vanish again. Next some more nobility shows up and vanishes again, at the same day that Sabakuno Saeko, the former Kazekage's daughter, finds clarity and decides to stop being a ninja for good, only to be gone just as suddenly as Shizumasa had. And since her fight with Bolt, nobody had seen Houzuki Suihi either.

"Maybe there is a connection…" Shikamaru thought out loud. The Hokage shrugged. There were other problems to discuss now.

* * *

It was evening at last. The sun was slowly vanishing behind the horizon giving everything a touch of red and orange, but Uchiha Sarada couldn't see it.

The girl was standing in the changing room. For the finale they would enter through separate doors on opposite sides of the arena. Somebody had told her that they had prepared a nice new stage especially for them. The guy had looked worried and asked her not to destroy it if possible. Her question to him in the end was, if getting destroyed wasn't the whole point of having the scenery at all. She wouldn't mind fighting on concrete. The man had looked at her horrified.

"Naïve…" Sarada sighed.

She looked at herself in the mirror. The only outfit she had, had gotten all cut up and bloody in her fight with Kadaj. If she went out like this, everybody would see her underwear. The only clothes left were her pajamas, the yukata and a normal, daily outfit. None of these would be practical for fighting Bolt. Nor would these look even remotely cool…

On the table she had displayed all her scrolls and weapons. Maybe starting to prepare these would be the best. The next second she realized that preparing meant checking AND putting them into their respective pouches – which wasn't going to happen, since she lacked any useable outfit with pockets. Of course: there always was the option of using the regular ninja bag on her leg, tattoo like seals or even a backpack. But there weren't more than 20 minutes left before the fight would start. Therefore she had no time to draw a seals on her skin (and give it time to dry) or find a backpack. Sarada searched the medical cupboard. Maybe there was some quick-dry-spray..? Nope, there wasn't.

Her next step was to assemble a fighting garment: her pajama pants, seamless tube bra (there wasn't much to hold in place anyways. Yet), the rest of her former fighting garments over it… She looked at herself in the mirror.

"I look ridiculous…"

"You look like the last survivor of a mall fight."

Sarada turned around and met the amused gaze of her mother. The girl got all flustered.

"Since when are you standing there? This is embarrassing…"

Sakura patted her daughters blushed cheek, "it's all right. How about you get out of this cute outfit and try on this one?" The pinkette held up a bag and a new pair of shoes. Her daughter eyed her warily, but got undressed nonetheless.

"So… how is everything going? Have you reconciled with Bolt yet?"

"No… not really. We are… friendly towards each other, but there is not really anything we would want to talk about anyways," Sarada reached out for the bag and pulled out some garments.

While her daughter was undressing again, Sakura started packing the weapons.

"You know, I don't see why you guys are always fighting over everything. It's not like you are that different." Sarada threw the old clothes (except for the pajama pants) into the garbage bin in the corner.

"That's what everybody says. But you know... I don't care," Sarada turned towards her mother, "can you please help me here?" She had trouble closing the zipper in the back.

"Haaaaaaaah," it was Sakura's turn to sigh. She pulled up the zipper.

Sarada was now wearing a tight black full body suit with long sleeves and the black new ninja shoes. Sakura took the last piece of cloth into her hands: It was a wine red wrapping dress. Sarada watched her mother close the buttons on the right front side and wrap it all up with a black scarf around her waist. The last thing Sakura did, was place a classic ninja bag over the scarf and hand her daughter the ninja pouch. Both were filled with the girl's equipment. Sarada took it with a smile and put on the last pieces to complete her outfit.

"Now turn around," Sakura stood behind the girl, her hands proudly on her shoulders, making her turn towards the mirror.

Sarada stared at herself for a second: The wine red dress looked gorgeous over the tight overall. It was made of fine, but durable cloth; all edges were seamed with black gimp.

"Wow," was all she could say.

"This is my and your fathers present to you," Sakura smiled, "it won't get torn apart as easily as the first garments you had. It does suit you."

"You doubted it? Didn't you pick it out?"

"Actually, your dad picked out the type of garment. So… I kind of doubted it for a second," Sakura smiled apologizing at Sarada, "but you look pretty, intimidating, strong… just everything that you are, is showing on your outfit now."

Sarada held her mother's hands, seeking eye contact with her in the mirror, "but… he won't see me in it, will he?"

"I already promised to tape it all for him," the adult winked, "you know… you are a lot like your dad. He wanted to fight Naruto so badly, he almost got himself killed more than once. But he always managed. You are our daughter. You are Uchiha Sarada. You are mine and papa's pride. And now," Sakura smacked her daughters butt, "go get them girl!"

"Hahaha thanks mum…"

"Oh and don't forget these," the adult gave the girl her father's other present, which she had already received in the second exam: the sports glasses. Sarada exchanged the seeing device, politely thanked and left the room, her father's family sign proudly on her back.

* * *

The crowd was ecstatic. Each and every one and their mother wanted to see the finale between those two. And since it wasn't about the villages anymore, everybody could just cheer for whom they wanted to. The Konoha marching band was making noises in one corner, while the hardcore fans from Sunagakure were trying to be louder than those on the opposite ranks of the arena. A group of disappointed Amegakure fans were booing at everybody, raising flags with their two defeated champions Setsuna and Kadaj. Some of them were even crying. They eyed their seat neighbors angrily: a huge group from Kumo had been seated there. None of their teams had even made it into the arena fights, therefore they had been drinking the last two weeks and especially yelling improvement tips towards the fighting participants. Sometimes they would even throw garbage. They were a nasty kind. Because their village was so far away, only a few from Iwagakure had even bought tickets. And after none of their teams either had made it anywhere near the interesting placements, they had formed a union with the earlier mentioned Kumogakure fans. Together they had been cheering, insulting and partying for the time being. But in contrast to the people from the lighting country, they tried to at least pretend to not be drunk the whole day (the others just didn't care anymore).

The lights were finally getting toned down and the last musical act before the finale had started:

A young woman was standing on the spinning platform in the middle of the spotlight, surrounded by smoke. She was singing the official hymn of the chunin exams. Five years ago they had decided they needed one to give everybody the feeling of being connected. And of course: A record label had made a ton of money with different interpretations of the "Official Hymn of the Chunin Exams".

_"…__even if your kind father, fretful mother, and your naughty, pesky, or timid siblings were here? Even if a strong wind blows, or rain falls all night…_" The song was slow, even a little damped. It drew the picture of a perfect world in the beginning, only to turn into a hymn of freedom, with the light flashing all over the arena:

"_Someday, we'll definitely become adventurers and set out to the vast world outside these walls. Great travelers who can't be peacefully tamed, not giving up even if it were deemed to be dangerous and reckless_," almost everybody within the arena was now singing with her as she sang these lines as powerful as she could, "_the expanse of flaming seas, icy lands, and snowy fields of sand. The real world is waiting for us_." And everything turned dark again, with only her in the middle of the arena for the last two lines of the hymn, "_say, if the world inside these walls were a single house, would you dare touch the door that leads outside..?_" The premise of the song was, that how happy everybody was now, the achieved peace had to be maintained and protected by these young people trying to advance in the exams. There would always have to be someone taking risks for the good of the many. And the song asked the important question: Are you ready to take the risk?

After the song was over, it was immediately replaced by the fast paced song of this year's exam called "Wings of Freedom". One guy was singing in the now brightly light arena in the place of the woman, around 50 dancers/background singers supporting him.

Meanwhile both Sarada and Bolt had taken their places behind the automatic doors on opposite side of the arena.

Sarada heard the sound of the fast paced music, feeling electrified. Someone tried to give her some last instructions, but she didn't hear them. The girl was searching for all the anger from the last year within her.

The anger about Bolt calling her four-eyes. Bolt failing last year in the exam. Bolt telling her that what happened to Hotaru was her fault.

Sarada stopping him from getting the last date he needed to win his bet. Sarada calling him an idiot over and over again. Sarada acting all smug and innocent as if she was the freaking angel she was not.

There it was again. The anger.

Slowly, the doors in front of them opened, bright spotlight blinding them…

End of Chapter 29

* * *

**_Welcome back!_**

_Are you doing well? I sure am. Where do I start? Maybe with saying... I'm sorry for the wait. Our router broke, making me unable to use any internet besides my cellphone, which is limited... And the week before that I went to Sweden to visit someone. No internet there either. Sorry.. I try to stay on my weekly schedule, but sometimes it just can't be helped. _

_This chapter is the last prelude before Sarada and Bolt will face each other. I will upload it tomorrow, whereas I won't answer the reviews from last time today, but tomorrow. As far as I am writing this story, there might be three to four chapters left concerning the chunin exams before we enter a new story ark. But more of it tomorrow ;) _

_One last thing: I got PM's last time because some people couldn't review, since you cannot review the same chapter twice. I deleted the mini special and the hiatus notice. Therefore this problem might occur again on this chapter! Tomorrow's will be #30. From then on there shouldn't be any more problems._

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review or write me a PM if you have any thought on this chapter! Take care, see you tomorrow!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_And one last thing:_**

_Thanks to _HerosReprise_ for all these wonderful reviews on the earlier chapters! I hope Peter &amp; Parker are alright!_

_And to everybody else: Please check out her story "_Four Weddings and a Funeral_". I personally love it!_


	32. Chapter 30: Innocent White & Passion Red

Chapter 30: Innocent White &amp; Passion Red

Hotaru was standing at the railing of the handicapped balcony. Over the last week he had stopped using his crouches, even with Sakura around. The doctor didn't approve, but what was there she could do anyways. Also, he had finally been able to shake off Momoka. The girl had been, how do you say it? Persistent in getting to him. Hotaru though befriended a security shinobi who started helping the chocolate boy every time he looked like he could use some assistance in getting away from Momoka, without hurting the girls feelings.

Therefore he was now alone (if you didn't count the three others on the handicapped balcony. Hotaru should have been happy, but he wasn't. His two best friends were about to fight each other. Momoka had told him about how they had been fighting all the time ever since he had been gone. And-

"There you are!" Someone placed their hands on Hotaru's shoulders to turn him around. At first the boy was afraid he had been busted, but then he saw his teacher's bright smile and her black-red locks.

"Ako-sensei," he exhaled, seemingly happy that it hadn't been Momoka.

"You little- let me see you. I just talked to Momoka and she said you had been awake ever since the second exam had ended? Why didn't you tell anybody? And don't give me any of those speeches 'cause I know you," she mussed through the boys hair. Ako was really glad that he was alright. It could have been so much worse…

"Yeah… sorry about that," Hotaru apologized, "I wanted it to be a surprise and after I heard that both Bolt and Sarada had made it to the third exam, I wanted to meet them as soon as they were out. Who'd have imagined they'd make it this far?"

"True," the teacher winked, "so how about you join us adults down on the participant's balcony? Everybody is there: Konohamaru, the Hatake Kakashi and Hanare, Bolt's and Sarada's family's…. If you want, I could call Momoka too."

"Oh please let's just go," hearing the last name he went white for a second.

Together they left the handicapped balcony and reached the other one just in time to see the entry gates open.

* * *

Sarada stepped outside. The last time she had seen the arena, it had been a muddy pond with blood all over the walls. It was nothing compared to what it had been modeled to be now: The floor was covered with a mixture of gravel and peat, palm trees had been placed randomly in the arena and a small mountain with moss and a waterfall had been built in the middle of the fighting ground.

If it hadn't been for Bolt standing on top of it, the scenery could have been quite charming, Sarada thought.

"Ready to pay four eyes," Bolt asked.

"Show me what you got asshole," the girl answered and jumped.

Sarada turned while being in the air, throwing some shuriken towards Bolt to get him moving. It worked and the boy did a backwards flick-flack to avoid getting hit this early. Before landing on the ground at last, he shot two thick spiked chains towards Sarada's supposed landing point.

The girl avoided the first one barely, only to get caught by the second one. Bolt pulled the chain back and twisted his body to the right, making Sarada fly towards the arena walls. She never hit them though. With a smirk she did some quick hand sings (tiger, boar, ox, dog and snake). She poofed into smoke and a log hit the wall in her place.

The blonde had seen this coming. He was already preparing his next technique and jumped just in time to not get kicked off his feet by Sarada from behind.

Both of were grinning.

* * *

"Looks like an even battle," Ako commented as they were watching the fight down in the arena, "but I'm sure that's not all they got. You guys must have taught them lots of new stuff, didn't you?" She eyed Kakashi and Konohamaru.

The former Hokage just shrugged, "maybe. Maybe not."

"Oh just wait and see! My student will kick your students butt," Konohamaru boasted.

"You sure 'bout that," it was Hanare this time, "my dad here is one of the best and most seasoned shinobi in the village. He is 150% better than you in everything you try and believe me, you would lose to him in any fight."

"Hanare…" Kakashi blushed a little after so much praise from his adoptive daughter, "maybe you should keep it down a little..?" But Konohamaru didn't care. He and Hanare started picking on each other.

Bolt's mother Hinata on the other hand was chuckling. She thought this was one of the best fights Bolt and Sarada had ever had, "what do you think who'll win," she asked her daughter. Himawari was hanging on the railing to watch the fight.

"I don't know. Sarada-nee is really good and big brother is just as good," she cheered because Bolt managed to hit Sarada in the face. The girl turned smiling to her mother, "but of course: Bolt is going to win!"

The door opened and Sakura quickly slipped in, "did I miss something? Don't tell me the fight is already over!"

Hotaru tried to hide away behind the still fighting Konohamaru and Hanare, but Sakura had already spotted him. She winked.

"As if those two would be done within two minutes," Kakashi greeted her friendly, "Sarada just started a counter attack after getting her ass kicked quite some bit."

"Well, let's see how this fight will end."

* * *

Down in the arena, both participants were circling each other. They had thrown minor jutsu at each other and tasted the water with two or three punches each. Their conclusion was, that they weren't that far from each other in terms of body strength.

Sarada's lip was already bleeding. She wiped it away, "nice punch you got there. If you'd have had it two years ago, we wouldn't be standing here."

"You think so? I still think you are to blame. You always lose your concentration miss I-know-it-all! You ate every fucking book available but you still suck when it comes to life!"

"Anything in particular boy? Or are you just trying to make yourself look better than you are?"

He laughed, "oh I don't need to make myself look better! Everyone knows that I am better."

Sarada wasn't sure what it was that ticket her off. But it was that one moment she finally snapped and sent a huge fireball towards Bolt. The boy got hit directly, setting his black-pink jacket on fire, even his pants were smoking. Next thing he knew was, that he dodged.

A bunch of flaming shuriken came flying from all around him. His opponent had started running around after blowing the fireball and set off a technique called "phoenix fire". Bolt was able to avoid most of it by waving his burning jacket over his head. He threw a chain, making it anchor in the arena wall to pull him away from there as fast as possible, leaving the jacket back on the hill.

The girl landed right next to it on the ground, stepping on the burning cloth. There were no words to be spoken. The two of them just glared at each other.

Their next moves were almost too fast for the human eye to process correctly: Bolt jumped into the air, high above Sarada's head. At the highest point he released a bunch of his special kunai into every direction. The crowd seemed to take in a deep breath at this point. Even if this was just a light version of his grandfather's technique, it was still impressive. And since Sarada hadn't been anywhere close the arena when Bolt had fought, the people guessed that she had no clue what was happening. And they were right:

For a long moment Sarada was just confused. She watched Bolt jump and throw stuff into every corner of the arena. Until he vanished. Wait – what?!

He suddenly hit her. From behind. Sarada didn't see him coming, he was too fast. He hit her straight into the kidney area. The crowd yelled. A foul move since it was one of the most sensitive areas. But these were the chunin exams. It was expected from the participants that they'd fight as if the situation would happen while a real mission. And on a real mission, nobody cared where you hit the enemy, as long as you got him down onto his knees fast enough.

Bolt didn't give Sarada enough time to recover from his first hit. He vanished from behind her, only to reappear on her left. Sarada was still slowly hanging forwards when he hit her arm with huge force, only to disappear again and hit her right arm before she could fall to the ground. He then vanished again to hit her.

He managed to hit her multiple times. For a minute or so everybody seemed to hold their breath. Was this the end?

Sarada was asking herself the same question. Her whole body hurt and he was still hitting her. How did he manage to get her from so many different angles in such a short amount of time? She felt like she was fighting Kadaj again, just this time he didn't try to cut, but to punch her to death.

"No," she whispered, "not again."

Bolt was grinning. It was his win. For sure.

The boy pulled back his fist to finish her off from the front. He appeared before her, pushed his right fist forwards and was stopped.

Sarada's head was hanging low, she held her side with her right hand and had caught his fist with her left without even looking. The kunoichi slowly raised her head.

Bolt's blue orbs met bloody red ones.

He tried to knock her out with his left fist. It wasn't as strong as his right one, but it would be enough to get her, right?

No. She simply caught it with her other hand.

The boy's eyes widened. This was not going as planned. Sarada was still holding eye contact and Bolt felt as if she was looking deep into his soul.

"Let go," he grunted, his hands still in her tight grip. But Sarada was just squeezing harder.

Suddenly there was a loud crack to be heard all over the stadium, followed by a pain filled scream. The girl seemed to have broken Bolt's fists. At least she had finally let go.

The boy fell to his knees, looking at his broken, bloody fists. Some bones were even sticking out. The pain was harsh and his eyes started to get teary.

"Just… why," he winced. Sarada though didn't care. She took a step back to get a better angle and her right shin met his head, making the blonde fly through the arena. He finally hit the wall. Since he didn't look like he was getting up again right away, Sarada took the time to have a look at her beat up body. There were fist sized bruises all over the pale skin, bloody scratches everywhere, where no cloth had been and these were just the things she could see from pushing back the black overall sleeves a bit. It was probably worse beneath her dress. She spit out some blood.

"Why you ask? Don't make me laugh," Sarada gave Bolt a grim look. The boy was finally getting back up again. He pushed the visible bones back beneath the torn skin. If he'd activate his chakra they'd be useable again within minutes. One of the perks of being related to the Uzumaki clan.

"Oh stop whining…" Bolt shook his already healing hands. Steam was coming from them, "I know you can take it."

Sarada smirked, "you are damn right." The girl quickly jumped up, targeting Bolt at the wall. The blonde saw her and twisted aside. The fist left another deep hole. "It's my turn now," Sarada announced, targeting him again. She wouldn't give him the time to regenerate his hands.

Bolt was quick to avoid her swings towards him. He was even able to counter one or two with kicks, but these would make him loose balance (he couldn't really use his arms right now to keep the stability). At one point Sarada hit him. First she gave him a less powerful uppercut, making the boy's chin fly up, his teeth gritting. Within the next eye blink she pulled back her right fist. Sarada concentrated her chakra into her right hand, making it glow blood red. The same as her angry Sharingan. Bolt didn't exactly see it coming, but rather felt the huge amount of energy coming towards him.

Sarada's fist met Bolt's chest. Again there was a cracking noise and Bolt flew once again against the arena wall. He hit it back first, spitting blood.

* * *

"Damn… that was a harsh one," Hanare had crossed her arms in front of her chest, watching Sarada taking the lead in the battle. Her father wasn't sitting anymore either. Kakashi had narrowed his eyes and was observing the fight carefully. It seemed like everyone wanted to see what was coming next. Ako was trying to pry Hotaru's hands from the railing. The boy was gripping the metal so hard, the hands were slowly turning white. Sakura was biting her lower lip, unsure wheatear to be proud at her daughter or angry. Bolt's little sister was holding her mother's hand, but was otherwise still watching the match carefully, while her mother was simply shocked. She had never expected her son, who had always been kind and helpful towards her, to get himself into such a serious fight. And it was easy to see: Bolt wanted to hurt Sarada just as much as she wanted to hurt him.

Everybody was ingested with the match, no one heard the door open and close. Hinata only noticed the new company, when someone put an arm around her. Naruto was smiling at his wife, "did I miss something? Are you alright? You look pale."

"Just… this match…" Hinata shook her head.

"What's with it," the Hokage obviously hadn't watched it until now.

"Brother is getting his ass kicked by Sarada-neechan," Himawari happily filled her father in. Naruto turned his head towards the arena, just in time to see his boy push himself out of a deep Bolt-sized hole in the wall.

* * *

Bolt fell onto his feet. He was still shivering slightly from the blow.

"That was quite a punch," he mumbled and flexed his fingers. Thanks to his healing ability they were almost healed and at least useable again. The girls blow had also reopened some of his wounds from the fight with Suihi. Bolt directed his chakra straight to them, since his hands were mostly alright now. He had to be careful from now on. If she would land another punch like this one, it would probably mean his end. Since he had known what she'd try, Bolt had collected chakra beneath his chest-skin to dampen the blow at least somewhat. His energy was getting low and he wouldn't be able to use this trick a second time. But he wouldn't give Sarada the opportunity either.

The girl on the other hand had taken the seconds while Bolt was still stuck in the wall, to tend to some open cuts. Her head was quickly working on a new strategy, while her Sharingan scanned the area.

The small mountain in the middle of the arena had been reduced to dirt and rubble all over the place. Some trees were standing, most of Bolt's kunai buried beneath the mix of dirt and the crushed trees. Sarada was suspecting that these were the reason Bolt had been able to hit her that frequently before. Hopefully would the dirt prevent him from repeating it.

Sarada was checking her energy resources. The last punch, her Sharingan and the emergency treatment had used up most of her chakra. She sadly couldn't compete with Bolt when it came to chakra. He had a lot more, probably inherited from his grandmother, paternal side of the family. But Sarada was better in controlling it and could do bigger jutsu with less energy. Either way, she would need to carefully ratio it.

She finally heard some rubble roll and looked up. Bolt had dug himself out of the wall and was bleeding all over. The blood flow seemed to stop as soon as a white shimmer emerged from the boy's chest. It was his chakra's color. As children, Sarada had always called his chakras color the color of innocence. Bolt would only pout at that. When he later discovered Sarada's blood red one, he'd simply smile and say that judging from the color, Sarada must be a very passionate and fiery person.

The memory flashed a smile over the girl's face. She scanned the boy quickly. He didn't have much chakra left either.

"That hurt Sarada. I must say you always surprise me," Bolt raised his right hand to show her that he wasn't finished. He held his left hand in front of his mouth, coughing up some more blood. Maybe a broken rib had pierced his lungs..? "Sorry, you got me there. How about this: I guess we both don't have much energy left. Let's just finish this stupid fight with one last blow, shall we?" He smeared the blood on his trousers.

Sarada gave the idea a thought and nodded, "very well. Let's get this over with."

End of Chapter 30

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_**BOOM!**  
_

_So how are you feeling? I had a hard time guessing how this chapter might be perceived by you guys. There are some where I'm sure you'll like it, there are some fillers, but this one? Damn... I guess some love it, some hate it... what do you think? Please leave a review or send me a PM :D I'd love to hear your opinion :)  
_

_From Thursday on the chapters will be regular again :3 _

_Take care, stay tuned!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers:_**

_Thanks to everyone who submitted a review and thanks to everybody reading this fanfiction! You make this story possible!_

_**Mrs Santinni**: Hey there! Thank you for the kind review! What do you say? Is it an equal battle? Neither Sarada nor Bolt were the strongest in the tournament, by far. They got mostly lucky. I don't mean to say they are weak! They have their fair share of power, but there were some who were just better than them :/ Ahhh well... did you like the first part of the fight? Please stay tuned! See you, your Usagi  
_

_**Scarease**: Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoyed it :D  
_

_**Dark princess**: Exams are more important than anything! Sadly you built your future on grades... but I don't plan on deleting this FF anytime soon ;) It'll always be waiting here for you :3  
_

_**tgsama**: Thank you! Thank you for the review :3 Yeah I guessed there were too many side charas, but at least I now got everybody on board for the upcoming story arcs. There may be one or two new charas, but they won't make an appearance until far in the future :) Did you like the story so far? Did you like the SaradaXBolt fight? I hope you stay tuned! Your Usagi  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Sorry for keeping you waiting... I hope you enjoyed this chapter ;)_


	33. Chapter 31: Reunion

Chapter 31: Reunion

Do you know the feeling? The feeling when you are being soaked in by what is happening right in front of you? When nothing else matters? When the scenery before your eyes gives you shivers and goose bumps? That thrilling, but scary feeling? The wish to run to safety, but having the need to stay at the same time? When nothing else matters, but what is right in front of you?

It was exactly what Hotaru felt.

The boy was trying to stay where he was. If he hadn't gripped the railing of the balcony tight, he would have already jumped straight down into the arena. He had yelled at his friends. He had waved, trying to make them realize, that he was there and unharmed. That it was enough. That whatever they were doing right now, needed to stop because there was no need to fight any longer. He was save. And he regretted that he didn't take an earlier opportunity to tell them.

Ako was the one who stopped his desperate attempts to make his friends realize they needn't to fight anymore. First she put her arms around him, to keep him where he was. Next she whispered to him.

"It's alright… they will be ok. Trust them, Hotaru." And Hotaru would stay where he was. He didn't like it. But what if it wasn't only about him? What if those two had much more bottled up within them?

Loneliness… Weakness… Embarrassment… Regret? Shame? Pride? Frustration? Betrayal?

Anger.

* * *

"That makes it a lot easier. Thanks for your cooperation," Bolt smiled, holding his right hand up in front of his face. His white chakra started to swirl around in it. Slow at first, but steadily gaining speed, until it finally formed into a light blue ball.

Sarada didn't answer. There was still some hesitation left, but instead of letting her self-doubt take over, she took on a better stand and held her left hand with her right one, as if she was readying herself to bump a volleyball. Sarada closed her eyes. She concentrated all her chakra into her hand again. On the opposite to her mind blowing bunch though, now it was her left. Suddenly the air around it started to sizzle, to get hot and electrifying. Small bolts of lightning were zooming around the girls hands, the number growing larger with each eye blink. After some seconds it looked like Sarada was holding a bouquet of lighting with her bare hand.

"I'm ready," she said, "are you?"

* * *

The Hokage wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He had known that Bolt was able use the Rasengan since the second exam. But he had only heard about it from Shikamaru. Naruto thought that the boy needed to use shadow clones, like he needed to when he was still young. But there was his son, simply holding out his hand, performing an A-class jutsu with one hand. Naruto looked around and his eyes met Sakura's green ones. She had the same surprised look, mixed with worry.

"Kakashi-sensei," she asked, "did you teach her chidori?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, I did."

"But Sarada is afraid of thunder storms and lighting," the pinkette couldn't get her head around it, "why would you teach her what she fears most?!"

"Only if you overcome your fears, you can truly be strong," the silver haired man explained, "and because she has an affinity for lighting release."

Sakura sighed, "These two are much more similar to their fathers than I expected…"

"Pssst! Don't ruin the moment," Ako turned towards the others with her finger on her lips, "it's getting exciting!"

* * *

Sarada took some steps back. Bolt was still almost standing within the wall. They needed to get some space. Neither let the other out of sight while moving. Bolt stopped moving when he finally felt comfortable.

For a moment they just looked at each other. There was no sound. The spectators didn't cheer, the announcer had shut up for a change. All sound within the arena came from the two very different ninjutsu on the teen's hands.

The chidori Sarada held was chirping like the thousand name giving birds. It was an electrifying tune. On the contrary, the rasengan was giving off a sound that could best be described as calm ocean waves.

Everybody held their breath, waiting for the tension to unload.

Bloody red orbs met icy blue ones.

For a second they hesitated. For one second they just wanted to extinguish the jutsu. For one second.

Sarada leaned forward. Her right foot automatically shot forward to catch her. To not fall over again, her left foot followed quickly and before Sarada knew, she was running towards Bolt. The boy had seen her moving and responded by charging forward too. At first he was looking into her worried face. It seemed like she didn't want this. And who was he kidding. Bolt didn't want to hurt her. Not truly. Even though he already had. Not only with his fists. But with words. Just like she had.

This was where they would end their quarreling. And the second Bolt had caught this thought, it seemed like Sarada agreed. Her worried eyes had changed. Determination replaced worry.

It felt like half an eternity to close the distance between them.

But then, in one tension releasing moment, they finally reached each other. Sarada's left hand pierced the blue ball shoved forward by Bolt's right one. The energies converged, wrapping the teenagers in a huge energy ball of red and blue, slowly mixing together.

* * *

Naruto was standing next to Hinata on the balcony. He was staring straight down into the energy ball, despite it emitting blinding light. Hinata had grabbed his and their daughter's hand. She was worried.

This is what we did, Naruto thought. He recalled his countless fights with Sasuke over the years, this is what we were capable of at twelve? He didn't know what he felt looking at the spectacle. He wasn't exactly worried, joyous, anxious or anything else. He was just astounded at what was happening before his eyes. After all, he had never seen it before, but only taken part in it.

The energy ball around Bolt and Sarada wasn't able to hold all the power for long. Seconds after the clash it unloaded in one huge blast, sending a shock wave towards the arena wall. Without a warning it blasted away the sound and protection barrier, washing over the ranks like a hot desert wind with the force of a typhoon. It was only for a split second and thankfully nobody got hurt by the energy wave, only some of the huge spotlights exploded from the pressure. Maybe it also hit two of the huge screens. The spectators closed their eyes though, only opening them again a minute later.

The blast had stirred up the dust, cloaking the arena in a brown-beige cloud. It had also mowed down the last few trees that had been standing. As the dust was slowly settling again, the announcer seemed to regain his composure.

"W-what an amazing fight," his voice was still shaky, "who thought such a thing would happen! And our contestants are..?!"

All (open) eyes quickly hushed over the arena. There was still some dust in the air. With only two spotlight remaining everything was now tinted in an orange light, making it even harder to spot what was going on below since it finally was night and therefore dark.

Hotaru narrowed his eyes.

"There they are," Himawari pointed at the (from their perspective) left side of the arena.

Hotaru's eyes wandered over there. Through the dust he was able to see two silhouettes, close by each other. He couldn't wait anymore, turned on his heels and bolted through the door, taking the way downstairs to the arena entrances.

Sakura wanted to stop him at first with something like "you shouldn't run!" But she stopped herself. If someone understood how he felt, it was her. And he just reacted naturally. She let him go and turned back towards the arena.

* * *

Sarada was panting. Sweat ran down her forehead, single drops dripped down from her eyebrows, only to continue their way down over her cheek. The blast had blown away her headband and her glasses. Some of the girls black bangs stuck to her forehead.

The boy didn't look much different. His headband had slipped out of place and covered his left eye now. Bolt's hair mimicked Sarada's look, sticking to his salty skin.

"Wow," he exhaled, "that was… pretty awesome."

Sarada blinked to get the sweat out of her eyes, "yeah, it was."

They were kneeling in front of each other. Sarada held Bolt's left hand, while his right one had hers in a soft grip. Subconsciously, they leaned towards each other. Their foreheads touched.

"Peace," he asked carefully.

"Peace." Sarada smiled.

They leaned back a bit, untangling their hands. Sarada raised her right palm and Bolt took it. There it was again, their homie handshake. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear. They took a deep breath and with one voice they announced:

"We surrender!"

A deafening silence. And then-

"What is this?! What is going on," the announcer was going nuts. Sarada could hear the crowd roar for the first time while being down in the arena. They were screaming, yelling. The people were trying to understand what just had happened. Never before had two contestants at once quit! Especially not in the finale! What would this mean for the competition?

It took the jury five minutes to determine the outcome of the battle. The announcer was glad to fill everyone in.

"The unexpected outcome of this tremendous battle has been decided! Since the participants Uchiha Sarada and Uzumaki Bolt both forfeit, neither has the right to win. But the generous jury has decided to declare both of them the winner! Congratulations!"

The crowd was cheering again. Sarada could hear a marching band from somewhere behind her. But that didn't matter. Their hands still entangled, they helped each other get up from the ground.

"Congrats to winning," Bolt gave her a mocking smile.

"Right back at you Bolt," Sarada let go of his hand to get her glasses and headband. Bolt was quicker and handed her them, right before fixing his own headband back into place.

"Damn, I'm sweaty…"

"The shirt's sticking to your skin… if you just had some abs... it could be so hot," Sarada slightly mocked him.

"Hey! Don't get me started." The boy laughed it off.

"Don't start fighting again! I really have enough of that!" Bolt and Sarada turned around. Who was shouting at them?

Someone came running into the arena. It was a cocoa skinned boy with dark brown hair. He had a gold earring and Sarada spotted deep green eyes. Before either Bolt or she could do anything, the person had taken them into a hug.

"Damn you two. It's good to finally see you…"

"Wait…" Bolt was trying to put one and one together in his head, "don't tell me… Hotaru?!"

Hotaru released his friends, "yeah whom did you expect?"

"You are awake..?"

"Yes Sarada, I am very much awake."

"But.. but… but you were in a coma! Since when?!"

"Actually quite some time already. I wanted it to woah!"

Hotaru didn't get to finish his sentence. It seemed like his friends had finally grasped what had happened and simultaneously jumped at him. Hotaru wasn't prepared, so he fell backwards onto the ground, almost hitting his head. Sarada had grabbed him around his neck. She was sobbing. The blonde had wrapped his right arm around Hotaru's head, pulling him close by it.

"Guys," he gasped for air, "stop it! You are suffocating me!"

It took them another moment but they gladly released him. It wasn't in their interest to lose him after just getting him back after over a year. The feeling though, was overwhelming. Sarada was kneeling on the ground, trying to hold back her tears of joy, while Bolt was still staring at his buddy.

"You are alright… Damn how are you here?"

"Well, you see… I had a lot of help. I've been up since almost half a year already. I didn't want you guys to know so-"

"My mom knew about it, didn't she," Sarada had finally regained control over her emotions.

"Yeah… she was quite helpful," Hotaru confessed.

Sarada wasn't sure if she should be angry or cry. She settled with the third option: laugh. And the boys gladly joined her.

* * *

Up on the balcony, Naruto was watching the kids. He had feared the children might hurt each other seriously. Remembering his fights against Sasuke (it hurt his pride to admit it), it was clear to him now that the Uchiha had overpowered him with his chidori often. Therefore if one had been stronger than the other, the winner would have been determined the old-school way. And the Hokage wasn't sure if his son would have won. He had genuinely been worried. The last time he had seen Bolt train, had been almost three years ago after he had just graduated the academy. It kind of hurt him that Konohamaru had taught his son the rasengan.

"Don't make such a face," Himawari was tugging on her father's sleeve, "Bolt won!" She was laughing.

"Yeah he did a god job, didn't he?" Naruto put his hand on his daughters head to ruffle through her short black hair.

"Soooooo as soon as you have put together my team, can I try the chunin exam too?"

Hinata who had been cheering for her son quickly turned around, "I think your teacher has to determine this. Right Naruto?" She smiled at her husband who nodded, "we'll see if you are ready soon. No haste!"

The little girl pouted.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

Naruto turned around. Sakura was watching the three kid's reunion in the arena. She was smiling too.

"They resemble us so much… it makes it funny to watch them now."

"Yeah... It feel like nothing ever changed."

"But at least they are not trying to kill each other," the pinkette snapped.

"You make it sound as if I was the one who wanted to do all the fighting. Sasuke had a huge part to play too," the Hokage mimicked Himawari's expression.

"It's alright Naruto. I just got… a little nostalgic."

"Yeah," the blonde turned his eyes back onto the three teenagers who were now laughing together, "just good old times.

End of Chapter 31

* * *

**_Welcome back dear people!  
_**

_Hope you are all doing fine? The theme of this chapter is "Reunion". If you want you can re-read it with _Fort Atlantic_'s song "_Let your Heart hold fast_". It is what mostly inspired the reunion of the squad :3 and damn I love the song. (And maybe _Jon Bellion_'s "_Carry your Throne_" in the beginning XD - hmmm no rather not).  
_

_This was the last chapter of the exam! There will be two interlude chapters and we are quickly approaching the following arc. We will stay in the area around Keishi city, but not the test site... Please look forward to it!_

_Sorry for the slow updates... I kind of miss my weekly dose of Naruto to inspire me. And the fillers aren't really helping it -.-_

_Did you like the chapter? Any thoughts? Please let me hear them! You are awesome! Thank you!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you all for your awesome reviews! Here are your answers :3_

_**CWAP**: Honestly, I don't really understand your review, therefore I don't know what to answer. But you call yourself "Critic with a Purpose" - I guess you missed it totally. If you liked my story: awesome. If you didn't: it's not for everybody. So, get your own opinion and depending on that, stay or stop reading^^ End of the story.  
_

_**Dark princess**: I'm not sure if he watched the fight :) I do hope so! Hopefully your exams will be over soon :) You can do it! See you soon 3  
_

_**Rdk3**: You did predict it right! So.. did you like it? Developing the exams like this just seemed natural to me. With the latest developement in the ninja world more and more towards todays Japan. Thank you for noticing :D You are awesome! Your review made me smile for a week and still does when I read it. Thank you so much! I will go on giving my best for you! Your Usagi  
_

_**Mrs Santinni**: I love how you phrased it. They do deserve becoming chunin :) When I first scrippted the exams, I purposely created strong opponents. I wanted to have Bolt and Sarada understand that they were strong, yes. But there is always a bigger fish in the ocean. And how awefully boring would it have been if they had just straight up ran through the exam? Sarada and Bolt are somehow like their dads, but not exactly. They never really wanted to hurt each other and had to drive themselves to do it, so they could get their closure on their failed exam. Thank you for the review! I hope to see you again next week!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: You passed - that's all that matters :D Oh the next arc will be shorter, but nontheless tense! Some characters from the exams will be back, there will be at least one fight that you expected to have already happened, which didn't... I hope you will enjoy it too! Your Usagi  
_


	34. Chapter 32: Moving On

Chapter 32: Moving On

The straw and clay houses of Camino were soaked in the dark orange light of the sinking sun in the west. The shadows grew long. The first people ignited their oil lamps.

Sasuke walked down the sandy main street towards the harbor. The trader who sold him barley bread every day was putting his empty baskets back into the house. They greeted each other with a short hand wave. The vegetable merchant on the opposite side had a good day selling his green scallions, garlic and melons. At noon he had sold everything and taken off the rest of the day to help his son find work at the temple. Sasuke knew, because they had asked him to write a letter of recommendation just this afternoon. The boy hadn't been older than 10. But money was short and the boy was healthy enough to work.

There had been six orders today. A rather high number. Sasuke was holding the last one in his hand. He usually didn't make deliveries, but since the client was a sailor, he made an exception. Most ships had already left the harbor when Sasuke arrived. It was common to sail at night in these regions. With the sun burning down all day, captains found their sailors and slaves would work a lot more efficient if not sweaty and burnt.

Only two ships were left in the harbor. Sasuke examined them carefully. One was the ship of a rich family. The sails had been painted with the family seal and the owners were having a feast. Since the outfits of the sailors there didn't match the one his client had worn, Sasuke turned to the second ship. It was a middle sized merchant ship with plain white sails.

Since nobody was on board, Sasuke decided to have a look at the cargo. He silently entered over the slim wooden bridge. The cabin door beneath the rudder deck was open. Sasuke sneaked in. It was a classical captain's cabin like any other. A bunk in the back, pots, baskets and some storage racks on the walls. There was also a table in the middle of the cabin with maps all over it. The thing above the maps though, caught Sasuke's curiosity. It was a thin metal pipe with some levers on it. The Uchiha picked it up. He wouldn't have guessed from looking how truly heavy it was. As soon as he touched it, one part that was slightly bent started glowing. White at first, but it quickly changed to an icy blue. It seemed to be a liquid. Sasuke assumed he had found the right way to hold it and turned it around. On the glowing end they had embossed a sign. It was an ammonite like spiral, carved deeply into the metal grit.

"Uzumaki…" Sasuke whispered.

Suddenly there were steps outside the cabin. Two voices came closer and closer to the door. They were speaking hogo. Sasuke quickly walked up to the glassless window. There was a sea gull just at the port not five meters away. This would work.

Sasuke turned, only to see the door open slightly. He concentrated and activated his left mangekyou sharingan. Without waving even one hand sign, he exchanged places with the white-gray bird. As soon as he once again stood on solid ground, he hid his metal acquirement in one of his parchment scrolls.

Not a second later, he heard angry screams.

"_What is that bird doing in here_," one of the two men said in hogo. The bird was audibly flapping with its wings, trying to get away from whatever situation Sasuke had just placed him in.

"_I'll help_," said the second man. Sasuke heard how he probably tried to hit the sea gull with a broom, but only destroyed some clay pots.

"_You idiot_," the first voice angrily stated. The bird suddenly escaped the cabin through the door, followed by a thrown broomstick and the two men. Sasuke didn't know the first one. He wore a classic shendyt. His belt classified him as a high ranking officer. He probably had a shaved head, but hid it beneath a deep blue and white stripped nemes without ornaments. Sasuke assumed that he was the captain. Who else could afford such cloth on a middle sized merchant ship?

Even though he is a very young captain, Sasuke noted.

The second one was his customer. The sailor couldn't have been older than twelve. His head was shaved too, but in contrast to his captain, he didn't wear anything except for a dirty wrapping skirt.

When the captain decided he would punish the boy for breaking valuable pots with the broomstick, Sasuke decided to make himself notable.

"_Excuse me. I have a delivery_," he announced in perfect hogo.

The boy brightened up. "_Oh thank you sir_," he hastily crossed the wooden bridge to get to Sasuke, "_you were able to finish the letter to my mother, mister?_"

"_As you can see, the man ranks higher than you,_" the captain harshly commented, "_therefore greet him with the appropriate respect or I will have you wiped!_"

"_I am very sorry_," the boy fell to the ground, burying his face in the dirt at Sasuke's feet. The Uchiha took a step back but decided to not comment the action. The captain was this boy's superior and if this was how he treated his subordinates, there was nothing a word of resistance would do. Sasuke simple handed the boy his letter.

"_Take it. I have written everything you asked for. She will not worry about you."_

"_Thank you sir_," the boy took the letter and ran back onto the ship. Probably to get himself a carrier pigeon or something similar.

Sasuke turned away, he had done his duty here and even got a little extra, but the captain spoke to him.

"_I hope the boy didn't trouble you. You must be the one eyed writer everyone in town is talking about. I hear your poems are superb._"

_"… __if you want to order something, do it tomorrow._"

"_We won't be in town anymore tomorrow. Well… I wish you a good night_," the captain turned around and in this fluid motion, something caught Sasuke's eye. There was a split second in which the last sunlight met the man's eyes. He could have sworn they were violet.

Sasuke didn't show if he was surprised. He simply turned around and made his way down a narrow street to the house he lived in. Later the same night, he sealed the found item in a security scroll. He climbed upon the flat roof to summon his hawk and send the evidence back home.

As he watched his trusted friend fly north, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had finally found the underground weapons trade. There was no use speculating now what kind of weapon he had discovered. He had never seen any of its kind before. Still, he assumed that the liquid within was connected to chakra.

* * *

"Do I really have to wear this?! It's ridiculous and I hate it!"

"Ha! Stop fighting it – you won't stand a chance."

"Yeah, you are the one to talk," Bolt was standing in front of a huge mirror, shoving his white shirt into the black uniform trousers.

It was the day after his battle with Sarada. Bolt had fallen asleep quickly the other day and didn't wake up until Hotaru had busted in around three PM. The winner(s) were expected to take part in the ceremony (where they would officially be announced as champions) and to be present in the following conclusion party which would end the chunin exams for good. If he hadn't been as tired as he was, Bolt would have loved to go to the party since it was being held to honor his victory after all.

But he also knew that it was more or less a marketing event for the village (they would show of their best men and women to the present (possible) contractors) and he resented the dress code. Hotaru was allowed to wear his regular stuff minus the earring, while Bolt – as a winner – was expected to show up in his ninja academy uniform. The last time he had worn it, had been the day he graduated and became a genin officially. To mock him, Hotaru had at first given the blonde his old trousers. Bolt didn't see what was wrong until he tried to fit into them. He outgrew them. Hotaru was laughing at Bolt in his trousers at half-mast, but seeing the pissed of look on his friends face made him hand over the new ones quickly.

"Shall I give you a hand," the cocoa boy had even asked, seeing how Bolt struggled to button up his white shirt later on. His arms were shivering.

"No thank you, you trickster. I can dress myself!"

"Why don't you just activate your chakra like you did yesterday in the fight," Hotaru grabbed a chair to sit down and watch Bolt struggle, "I mean, your arm clearly hurts, doesn't it?"

"It's not like I can just do that every day," the blonde explained frankly, "and I bet Sarada is still bruised all over. I don't want her to suffer alone."

"What a gentleman," Hotaru mocked and watched as Bolt shoved his shirt into the black uniform trousers. He grinned and threw the red jacket over his friend's shoulders, "let's go!"

* * *

But Sarada wasn't bruised all over. In fact, she looked better than Bolt did. She wore a knee length white summer dress, embroidered with a floral design, the red uniform jacket over it. Judging from the visible skin, her mother had probably gotten rid of any bruises, cuts and internal wounds already. The girl was flawless.

"How did I not remember that," Bolt growled to himself as they lined up for the picture session.

The photographer rearranged the group multiple times. At first he wanted the whole group in one picture, which meant the champions, the Kage, the representatives of the three big sponsors and some officials. He always pushed Bolt in the middle of the picture, while Sarada sometimes got lost behind the guy from Kyuuketsu Juices until Bolt would pull her in front again. Since his father was the Hokage, everybody knew him and the photographer knew how good of a marketing plus it was, that the Hokage's son had aced the exam. It was nice that Sarada had won too, but she wasn't as useful in a media campaign.

She was surprised that they wanted her in the pictures at all. It was just good that Sarada herself didn't really value her victory. All she wanted, was to become chunin. Winning the exam just put her in a better light than the other competitors that had reached the third exam. The ones to decide in each village who'd be promoted, was a council consisting of the Hokage, his advisor and some people who had proven good judgement. And like every year, only two participants from Konoha would be promoted – at best. Therefore Sarada smiled and ignored the insults through the photographer. She was sure he had his instructions.

After the group pictures, the Hokage handed them their "I won the chunin exams"-certificate and the photographer made some pictures of the champions alone and with their families. As the official part of the party ended, the three sponsors gave each of the kids a bag pack with merchandise from their companies. (A solar power building kit which could be used to power a small lamp with sunlight from Taiyoudenki, plastic bottles with the Kyuuketsu Juices logo and candy from Nisshou TV.)

Bolt didn't want his, so he gave it to his little sister. Himawari took it with a bright smile and started reading the instructions for the solar experiment right away. She loved these things. Her big brother was more interested in the big buffet on the other side of the great hall. He hushed to it, trying to not get caught in a conversation with any of the officials. The food was calling him.

Sarada was already standing at the table, observing what they were offered: fine sashimi (raw, sliced fish), tempura (fried seafood and vegetables), classic sushi and dango in all variations (rice flour dumplings) for desert. Sarada put some of the sashimi and rice on her small plate.

"Aren't you hungry," Bolt asked eyeing her plate.

"I am," she explained, "but unlike you I have the manners to not overload my plate." She picked up a pair of chopsticks and adjusted her glasses.

"Don't lecture me now... please…" Bolt groaned. He didn't have the energy for such a conversation now. Instead he scanned over the buffet, only to quickly dive beneath the table.

"And what are you doing now..?" Sarada slightly bent down to see him vanish behind the white tablecloth. Bolt didn't answer, but someone else slightly tapped Sarada on the shoulder.

"Congratulations Sarada. You did well," Naruto smiled at the fourteen year old.

"Oh uhm... Thank you Hokage-sama," she replied slightly surprised.

"I am searching for my son," the man explained, "I need to have a word with him about his behavior in the last days. Have you seen him?"

Sarada was grinning on the inside, "I'm afraid I haven't seen him since the group pictures. Maybe he went with Hotaru to dress in something more comfortable?"

The Hokage nodded and tried to find his way through the crowd.

"Thank you Sarada," Bolt whispered from beneath the table.

"Sure," she answered and went to find her mother, but ran right into Chocho and her friends. The orange haired girl still needed a wheelchair that was being pushed around by one of her many admirers. As soon as she saw Sarada, Chocho held up a hand.

"Oh who have we here? Congratulations Sarada," she winked. This was totally different to how she had treated Sarada before the exam. "Guys can we please have a moment," Chocho asked her "friends". They left for the buffet, curiosity in their eyes. What did their queen bee want with that Uchiha girl?

"It's good to see you Chocho," Sarada replied politely, "it seems like you recover quickly."

"Oh yes," the dark skinned girl answered, "your mother truly is a skilled medic. She told me to not leave the wheelchair until next weekend if I want to completely recover. I said, if staying in this thing assures that I'll be fine again, I won't be standing up any time soon." She laughed.

Sarada nervously smiled, "that's good to hear. So… what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh nothing big. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come over to my place some time? I and the girls sometimes have girl nights. We do our nails, talk about boys, watch TV… are you interested?"

"Ok? Why not?" Sarada didn't really know what to say. She had never been at a girls night and deemed nail polish pretty useless for a ninja.

"And while we are at it-"

Chocho wouldn't stop for another ten minutes. Sarada was glad the food on her plate had been cold to begin with.

* * *

Bolt on the other hand had taken the opportunity and snuck away from the buffet with a huge plate of food in his hands. His dad was searching for him somewhere else and he had spotted Hotaru on the patio. He was sipping a cold coke, looking at the gardens outside the party hall. After the official part, he had reinserted his golden earring and taken off his jacket. Formal events were a drag.

"Hey there," Bolt held out the plate, "want some?"

"Oh nice," Hotaru took a salmon nigiri.

"It's exhausting in there. All those people and my dad is still trying to give me a lecture," Bolt bit into a prawn tempura with oyster sauce.

"Why aren't you happy? Your dad is trying to make time for you." Hotaru got himself another piece of sushi.

"If he'd have time to lecture me, we wouldn't need this lecture now. If you ask me, he is avoiding me on purpose. He poses as if he is trying to talk to me, but takes the first opportunity to delay the talk. I'm sure he knew that I wasn't asleep in the hospital and I'm a 100% sure he knew I was just hiding beneath the table-"

Bolt didn't get to finish his sentence because Hotaru burst out in laughing, making Bolt throw his chopsticks at him.

"If that sums up your problems, I don't get why you are complaining," Hotaru ducked away, grinning like crazy.

"And why is that?" Bolt got slightly pissed.

"Come on. I just lost one year of my life," Hotaru explained and picked up another piece of sushi, "and you are complaining to me about how exhausting your dad is?"

Bolt's face went from mad to guilty, "… I know… sorry…"

"Don't mention it. Just pull yourself together, ok?"

The boys went silent. Until…

"Are you back to chit-chatting?" Sarada put her arms around them from behind, "we haven't been like this in far too long. According to my mum we have a week off from tomorrow on. Want to do something?"

Hotaru put his arm around her, still looking into the garden, "sorry I can't. I had to promise my parents to be home as soon as possible. They haven't seen me for one year. And of course," he waved his free hand over himself, "they want their piece of chocolate."

"Is your mom's stew still that good?"

"Jepp."

"Oh damn," Sarada sighed.

"If it's just the two of us, how about we stay in the capital and visit the royal palace," Bolt asked, offering Sarada some sushi. She declined.

"And what do you propose we do here? Sightseeing?"

"Good idea," Bolt grinned, "and while we're at it we could go and see what happened to our make-shift team member."

"You mean the one that got away?"

"Jepp, that one. What do you think?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Sarada smiled, "I'm really interested in his excuse."

Hotaru patted her on the back, "I wish you lots of fun."

And together they proceeded to pillage the buffet.

End of Chapter 32

* * *

**_Hey there guys!_**

_ONE YEAR FINDING PAPA! _

_And one year of Naruto being over... T.T_

_Hope you are doing good? I finaly uptdated. Sorry for the wait... I started working as a waitress again, writing job applications and having a life all together just didn't leave much time for this chapter. I was so damn uninspired... . (This section below the chapter starts feeling like a diary. Sorry guys!)_

_Well how did you like this chapter? It's the official conclusion of the chunin exams (and damn I'm happy). Coming Thursday we'll move on and start our adventure in Keishi City. Without Hotaru though. But this is going to be good. Not as long as the exam though (hopefully).  
And Sasuke's plot is thickening. One thing I can already tell you: Everything is connected :D _

_So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you soon! If you have anything to say, please leave a review or send me a PM!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thanks to everybody for reading the story! And thanks to all my lovely reviewers!_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Hehe so you want to know who is stronger.. well, I calculated it: They are not their fathers, they mostly had the same training and while Sarada is simply using her small amount of chakra better than Bolt, he still has more stamina than she. And currently, neither of them can defeat the other. In their fight they just tried to punch each other as hard as possible to get their aggressions out. But yeah.. With Sasuke and Naruto always competing... At the point of _Boruto: The Movie_, I'd say Sasuke is the stronger one. The Naruto we see in Gaiden wasn't at his peak. Being an official, sitting around all day - I guess he just lost his touch at battle. Sasuke on the other hand hasn't been doing anything but fight and use his rinengan. He probably got even more powerful (by getting to know his limits better). What do you think?  
I can give you an overall overview of the story: after conclusion ~100 chapters. If you say -30 chapters exams, you have around 60-70 chapters to go. The next arc will be a bit shorter, the one after the following will be around chunin exam lenght and the final arc will be shorter again.  
I have been thinking about doing a short sequel. In the last chapter I'd like to do a Naruto 700 like thing ("20 years in the future" or so). But first I want to finish writing Finding Papa. And I will, if there are still people reading the story :)  
Thanks for the questions :* Take care!  
_

_**astrayangelwings**: Thank you for your most kind review . you are all exicted and then I don't update for so long... I'm so sorry! I'll try to keep the schedule! But it's good to hear that you liked the story! I always give my best to give you guys the most authentic Naruto story. It's kind of my way to cope with the manga ending :D Thank you for reading the story! Take care!  
_

_**Dark princess**: Sadly, I think the Naruto series is concluded. Kishimoto is not going tot write further contenct and honestly: I do understand. He was stuck with one story for 15 years. He probably wants to tell a different one now. And spend some time with his family. / Good to hear you liked the chapter! The next one will feature Sarada and Bolt alone on a quest to find Shizumasa XD This is going to be good. Damn... Writing the next chapter is already fun... And with all the foreshadowing I did, I guess yeah: Shit's about to go down in the fire country... Hope to see you again soon! THX!  
_

_**etimbuk18**: Thank you so much for reading the story! I always give my best to entertain you. Maybe Inojin still has a chance? I don't like storys where you can already see the end. It might be implied but hey ;) doesn't change that they are the main characters though. Thank you very much and I hope you stay tuned! See you!  
_


	35. Chapter 33: Adventures in Keishi City

Chapter 33: Adventures in Keishi City

The maglev was gliding smoothly over its tracks. The seats had been attached to the side walls of each wagon to have more space for standing people in the middle. The rush hours were the worst. You couldn't move a muscle in there.

Sarada was sitting in the middle wagon, her head turned so that she could watch as Keishi City drifted by below the tracks of the maglev. Bolt was sitting next to her, his head on her shoulder. He was asleep and drooled all over the girl's jacket. It was their well-deserved holiday, therefore they had dressed in normal clothes:

Bolt wore a grey jacket over a loose t-shirt and three quarter pants which he wore around his buttocks. Sarada had tried to explain to him that nobody wanted to see his underpants, but Bolt had just looked at her as if she just told him to commit seppuku. Sarada on the other hand had dressed in black yoga pants, a short blue dress over them and a black crop-jacket. Her mother had given her new sandals as a reward for "winning" the chunin exams, so she had matched them with her outfit and her regular red glasses.

It was the beginning of Mai and the already clear weather had brightened up even more. The temperature was forecast to not fall below 15° at night and even rose to 30° at noon. It was dry with barely any clouds in the sky. Spring was slowly turning into summer.

The two of them had come to the capital the day before. Their parents hadn't been particularly happy to have their 14 year old children run around the capital all alone. They were having a nasty fight two days ago (after the conclusion party) until Ako had volunteered to accompany her students to the city and to make sure they wouldn't do anything stupid.

Since the exam was now over, they couldn't stay in the arena quarters anymore. Ako, to honor her victors, had booked a small apartment for the three of them in a skyscraper hotel in the outskirts of Keishi, but with a direct connection to the maglev into the city.

Hotaru had been kind of down when they parted ways. His parents ordered him back and Sarada's mum Sakura was happy to get him home. She thought that all the excitement throughout the exam had been enough. "It's time that you finish your recovery! If you are doing well, you might be able to go into active service again by the end of this month," Sakura had promised the chocolate boy. It lifted his spirits. Hotaru had never been someone to slack around. He needed action. A purpose. And furthermost: fun with his friends.

Now, as the several districts of Keishi were rushing by the window, Sarada was recapping the party a little. After her talk with her teammates, she had been approached by Inojin. The blonde had completely recovered and asked her for a dance. Since Sarada was sure she would only step on his feet, she declined and they got themselves an orange juice instead.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about me," he bit his lip as he tried to find the right words, "you are my best friend and I didn't want you to… you know… You always helped me and I wanted to-"

"Inojin, it's alright. Really." Sarada felt uncomfortable with him – again – trying to justify not telling her that he could be just as badass as she herself sometimes. "Let's just… let's just be friends, ok?" She wasn't sure if he would be alright. She hadn't forgotten his love confession. But it just didn't feel right. He was her friend and-

"Ok, let's be friends," Inojin smiled happily. It probably wasn't what he had wanted to hear, but he'd rather be 'just friends', than loose her over such a trivial matter. His father had taught him this: a friendship was more valuable than most short-lived teenage romances could be. The boy smirked.

"Sarada," she had just started to turn around to walk over to her mother, when Inojin carefully took her hand, "one day when we are older, I may convince you otherwise." He had smiled, bent down to kiss her hand and left a startled Sarada in the middle of the hall.

Thinking about it once more made Sarada shiver again. What did he mean? Were they… friends again? Would he still pursue her?

"Oh boys," she sighed, not sure what to think about the whole ordeal.

"What is it," a sleepy voice from her shoulder asked. Bolt was finally waking up, "where is Sensei?"

"She got out three stations ago at Wakamachi. She said she needed to get some new clothes for going out tonight. So she won't be there when we come back."

Bolt chuckled, "did you see her and Konohamaru-sensei yesterday?"

"No," Sarada looked at her nails, "was there anything to see?"

"Oh come on! You know they are dating, right?"

"How come I don't care about that stuff and you know anything that's going on with everybody? I feel like I'm the boy in this group with you being a total Regina George."

"A what?"

"Forget it," Sarada shook her head, "we have to get off in two stations: Shironiwa."

"God how long did I sleep? Don't tell me I drooled on your shoulder-"

"Yes you did and please," Sarada crossed her arms, "just don't, ok?"

Bolt caught himself wanting to reply something mean, but stopped himself. They had just reconciled. There was no need to strain Sarada's nerves with unnecessary comments. Instead, he asked something he had always wondered about.

"So… Why would Inojin tell you he liked you? Are you two that close..?" He didn't realize that the question wasn't much better than a mean comment.

"Maybe you should just stop talking. You are currently getting yourself from one bad situation into another. Maybe you could sleep some more?"

"What did I- I just wanted to know- Urgh... Never mind..." He pouted and slopped down, his head rested in his hands. But he had really started to wonder. Sarada and Inojin had been friends for a very long time and after their first attempt on the exam they had grown even closer (with Bolt out of the picture and Sarada not having many girl-friends). They had trained together, had sleepovers… Inojin practically was a girl-friend to Sarada (She would even braid his hair sometimes). So why would he want to destroy their friendship by saying stupid things like "I love you"?

Bolt carefully observed the black haired girl next to him. She wasn't ugly, but he wouldn't describe her as pretty either. Her occasionally bad temper, the glasses, wiry short black hair, the 'I know it all' attitude… She wasn't special. Not at all.

"Stop staring at me. You are creepy," Sarada had noticed him and turned his head away from her with her right hand.

"I did not-"

"Come on, we need to get off."

* * *

The spring sun gave the whole area a slightly magical touch. The gardens as also the maze had been taken very good care of and were now carrying blooming flowers everywhere. From the top of the station the two teenagers were able to spot the castle in the distance, surrounded by the gardens and a rose-red hedge maze. The official path towards the daimyo's residence was lined with white and pink blooming cherry trees. Some locals had brought plastic covers and were having picnics on them. It was funny to see the children run around and grown adults respectfully taking of their shoes before sitting down to get drunk.

Bolt and Sarada were walking right through them because the people had also settled down on the gravel path. It felt a little like walking through a small web. Some boys in school uniforms called for Sarada to sit with them when they spotted her. The girl rolled her eyes and just walked on.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Bolt caught up to her after flipping off the idiots for catcalling the girl.

"Hm?"

"While we worry about fighting, learning how to survive and just finished the probably hardest exam there is, these guys just sit here skipping school with probably stolen alcohol," Bolt wasn't sure why this thought came to his mind. But it felt strange: He had probably experienced more in his life already than these guys ever would. While he was expected to run head on into danger again and again, those people would finish their school and live the peace he fought for – without even knowing his name or about the sacrifices he had to bring.

"I know… but maybe you are taking yourself too seriously."

Sarada shrugged and stretched a little. She had come to accept this world just as it was when she became a genin. Nobody had ever asked her if she wanted to be anything else than a shinobi. It was a given for her as the daughter of the last Uchiha and the best medical kunoichi ever known. Of course, Sarada had thought about it. She had her doubts. Especially in the weeks before her graduation.

What will we be after graduation?

What was a shinobi?

What did it mean to be a shinobi?

The Hokage himself had helped her out of her doubts. He didn't give any definition, but he showed Sarada how a real shinobi should act. What a true shinobi was like. He had impressed her. Which was one of the reasons why she hadn't understood why Bolt wasn't on best terms with his father. Both of them had similar characters in her opinion: both were righteous, just, stubborn and open hearted. They only changed when it came to each other. In the few occasions they would meet (like when the group got assigned a new mission or if Naruto made it home for dinner in time) they always seemed to talk past each other.

But Sarada had her own problems to take care of. She hadn't seen her father for almost seven months now. He didn't even send letters or anything. At least not to her.

Maybe I'm still uninteresting for him, she thought as she lined up together with Bolt at the castle entrance.

They had to get a ticket to enter the inner castle walls, even if they wanted to visit somebody of the royal family. They hadn't been invited after all.

Maybe, Sarada thought, maybe he just doesn't want to be with me? Yes, we strolled through the city together. But he didn't look like he enjoyed it at all. Actually, he never looks like he enjoys anything. Good, he sometimes smiles with mom around. But I never saw an honest smile on his face. Does he even want to be around us? If no, why am I even trying?

"Sarada? Earth to Sarada!"

"Huh?"

"Man you look like you are going to kill the next person you see," Bolt eyed her warily, "you alright?"

"Yes… yes, I'm sorry," Sarada shook her head and quickly gave the woman behind the glass the ticket money. The attendant looked kind of shocked of what she had just seen in Sarada's eyes, but gave out the tickets anyways.

"Thanks," Bolt grinned and winked at her.

"Could you please stop flirting with everything that has boobs," Sarada hissed as they entered the inner castle walls, "you and Hotaru called off that stupid bet, right?"

Bolt pouted, "girl, you don't understand: I need to train to keep my charm on a high level or else it's decreasing again. And I don't flirt with every girl I see," Bolt walked next to Sarada. He crossed his arms behind his head, "for example, I'm not flirting with you."

"Gosh thank god you don't! That would be the worst," she answered.

"Oh it would- wait. Why would it be the worst?"

Sarada ignored him and approached a map on the side of the path. In front of them was a crossroad. If they would go left, they would soon reach the entrance to the maze, turning right would open up the traditional gardens and following the path straight ahead would bring them to the castle gate, the last barrier between them and the castle door.

Bolt spotted the guards first: Two men in red and black uniforms, equipped with spears were guarding the open gate. And when the kids got closer to the entrance, they crossed their weapons.

"No entry. Do you have an appointment," the guy on the right asked.

"Uhm…" Bolt looked at Sarada, "I guess we don't have an appointment..?"

"No entry then. Now get lost," the guard on the left said. Neither of the guards were actually looking at them.

"We are really sorry," Sarada began, "but we would love to meet prince Shizumasa. We were in the chunin exams together and-"

"No appointment: no entry," the first guard said again and finally looked at the kids, "get lost."

"Hey listen! We need to see our third wheel and talk to him because he just freaking left us-"

The two guards shifted their weapons and pointed them at the teenagers, "go! Or we will have to use force!"

Bolt was about to answer something, but Sarada took his hand. He looked at her irritated (partly because she had stopped him and partly because she had grabbed his hand). The girl just shook her head, "let's go. Maybe we can get an appointment with him."The boy grunted but let Sarada pull him away.

After about a 100 meters and around a corner Bolt finally pulled his hand out of her grasp.

"Why did you just-"

"What did you think was going to happen? You yell at them or beat them up and tada! The path is free? Bolt, this is not the poké-league!"

"I am not confusing reality with a game again! That was one time! But I could at least try," he needed to defend his own actions.

Sarada did a face palm, "if we were lucky, they would just call one of the Shugonin Jūnishi and we could have explained ourselves better than to those idiots from the army, yes. But in a more likely case they would have simply taken us into custody for trying to force our way into the royal palace. Come on Bolt, you are better than this…"

"Maybe you are right… just maybe…" Bolt crossed his arms and pouted. He looked around. "Say… there are no guards ON the wall, right?"

"No, not that I know of…? What do you mean?"

Bolt grinned, "we are ninjas! Let's be stealthy!"

"Oh no! Don't you even-"

But Bolt was already halfway up the stone wall.

End of Chapter 33

* * *

**_Hey there_**

_How is it going? I'm almost on time! But there just was no time yesterday...  
_

_This chapter starts very slow again and gradually gets more intense. I really do love to start an arc slow and pick up the pace as it gets more and more intense with each chapter. I couldn't really do that with the third exam, but hey: new arc, new game!  
I also wanted to give Bolt and Sarada the chance to recap a little about their own problems, feelings. Sarada and Inojin ended up on a friendly note, but Inojin won't give up on her that easy I guess. _

_I'm trying to update "Our Dream" on Sunday's again and to finish the first part of the one shot I have been working on. I'll keep you updated! _

_For all the Germans reading my story: I just started a German cosplay blog. Together with two friends I want to post weekly articles on cosplay, how-to, tutorials, tipps, tricks.. just what you need! From coming Monday on we will be posting on a weekly basis! As soon as it's officially open (coming Monday) I'll post a link in my profile and open a facebook page to keep you all posted! If you are interested: Please have a look!_

_Well, please leave a review or write me a PM with any comments that you may have! I'd appreciate it :D _

_See you soon!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you all for your most kind reviews! Everytime I read a new review, my day is saved :)_

_**DragonsCrescent13**: Thank you very much for your review! How did you like the little talks they had? They want to be nice to each other, but it's hard to not be mean to each other anymore XD It's like a bad habbit for them :3  
_

_**Skyasssassin72**: What makes you anxious about them? Everything's open still. I guess Inojin is yet the only one of the kids who is in any way interested in romance. (Bolt still thinks that "love" is some illness XD). It's awesome to hear you like the story! Therefore: thank you very much for the review! Please stay tuned for updates!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Welcome back :) Nope Sasuke is still down in the flame country. But he found the sign on a weapon on a trading ship. It could be that the ship came from Uzu no Kuni. But who knows? And damn I still love how you read between the lines. And the level of attention you give every detail I write in about. Just makes writing them in worth it *.*  
Nice! I never read either... but if you want to read some older mangas that are online: Saint Seya is said to be awesome and I personally am a fan of Inuyasha and Red River! Thanks for the review, take care and see you soon :3  
_


	36. Chapter 34: Consequences

Chapter 34: Consequences

"I told you to not climb that wall!"

"And I was already hoping you had become mute…"

Sarada and Bolt were sitting next to each other at a wooden table. The room they were in was small and they had crammed an extra folding chair on one side of it to have the kids sit next to each other. Across from them was another chair in front of a glass wall. They couldn't see through it, but Sarada bet there was another room behind it.

Neither of them had said a word for the last fifteen minutes. Sarada had crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at the glass wall as if she was going to melt it. Bolt on the other hand, had placed his chin on the table and started sighing. Until Sarada couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Oh shut up! You and I both know that this was one of your worst ideas ever!"

"Not the worst?" Bolt turned his head and actually looked at her surprised.

"If I'd start thinking, I'd probably remember three or four other things that you really messed up."

Why? Why is it always me who gets in trouble with HIM?

Sarada buried her face in her hands.

Dear gods! What have I done to receive such divine punishment?! Can't you just send me an ogre or a troll or a dragon or really something to just kill me? I'd gladly fight anything you throw at me - but him? Come on! That's foul play! Just why? Why? WHY?

"GOD DAMNIT!" Sarada angrily hit the table with her palms. It cracked a little.

"Holly! Sarada keep your shit together," Bolt jerked up, eyeing her warily. Maybe he was next after the table?

But instead the door opened.

"If you could please refrain from damaging other people's property."

A tall man in a Konoha jonin uniform entered the room. He wore a white banda with the fire country's symbol around his hips. He was one of the twelve guardian shinobi, the shugonin jūnishi. Judging from his greyish hair, he seemed to be one of the senior members. His skin was strongly tanned and looked somewhat like leather. He had probably spend his life mostly outside somewhere in the sun fighting, judging from the many small scars Sarada counted. He couldn't have been much older than her parents. But what did she know?

"Excuse me sir," Sarada apologized, "my temper sometimes gets the best of me."

"Calm yourself then." He sat down across from them, "you realize why you are here?"

The girl immediately turned her head to stare at Bolt, "yeah, why don't you rephrase why we are here, Bolt?"

He just narrowed his eyes, "because I climbed a wall I wasn't supposed to climb?"

"Go on."

"…and because when I had climbed it I called for a 'white haired wimp'?"

"…and?"

"And because I tried to break into the royal palace..?"

"That sums it up," the adult said. He observed the kids.

"So, why am I here," Sarada asked, "I didn't do anything wrong."

"When he saw the guards coming, you remember I guess, he tried to flee and you ran with him. It was only natural of us to take you into custody too."

Sarada nodded, "right… it must have been suspicious. Thanks for the quick reminder…" She pouted.

The man sighed.

"I have reached your superior. She should be here soon," he studied the kids' faces, "so tell me why you would act that improper? Neither of you seems like an unreasonable kid to me. You are Konoha shinobi, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you see," Bolt started before Sarada could open her mouth, "we just won the chunin exams and we were much exited. But our third team member ditched the exam before it's end and we still are kind of worried 'cause we have no clue what happened to him."

"I suppose you mean the 'white haired wimp'," the man raised his eyebrows, "but why would you search for him at the royal palace. This isn't the place where you find shinobi runaways usually. If I was you, I would try the prison, a bar or even a morgue."

"Why would we search for him at a morgue?" Sarada was confused.

"A wimp who leaves his comrades and duties behind by running away should just kill himself in my opinion."

The kids looked at each other. This man was weird.

"His name is Shizumasa," Sarada carefully explained, "and he is the third prince of the fire country. I don't think he would kill himself but rather have a good explanation."

"So you were his team members. Well, let's end this conversation here. You are getting off this time with a warning: Don't do anything like this again or you will have to deal with the consequences," the man shrugged and got up again.

Bolt jumped to his feed, "and what about Shizumasa? When can we meet him?"

"Just fill out an application for an official audience. Maybe you'll be lucky in six months."

The shinobi waved and simply left the room.

"I can't wait that long," Bolt was stunned, "if we don't see him now, how is he going to tell us why he ran away? That idiot won't even remember!"

Sarada got up and put a hand on Bolt's shoulder, "don't worry. We will find a way." She looked at him with confidence in her eyes. The boy grinned. When Sarada was in a 100%, there would be no doubt that they would get done anything they wanted to.

"When do we start?"

"Tonight. We should head back first and-"

"-and what? Don't tell me you are planning on pulling Ako into one of your shenanigans," a female voice coming from the door asked. There stood a slender young woman of maybe 1,65 meter height. She had short unkempt dark hair and also wore the classical Konoha uniform with a banda around her hips. Her eyes had a playful look to them as she greeted the teenagers. Her name was Mirai Sarutobi.

The young woman had quite the reputation in the village: Mirai's mother was Kurenai Yui, Bolt's mother's old teacher. That's how he recognized her in the first place. But everybody said that while she had her mother's hair and eyes, her other features were a lot like her father's: Asuma Sarutobi. He was the son of the third Hokage and Konohamaru's uncle. He had been one of the best shinobi who had emerged the village. After a fight with his father, he had presumably left the village and taken on the duty as one of the twelve guardian shinobi in service of the Daimyo. Mirai had taken on the same duty just two years ago in honor of him.

She had always been good friends with Ako, who was some years older, and with Hanare Hatake, who was her age.

With Mirai as a familiar face the kids didn't feel too bad anymore. She was smiling and telling them some stuff about her job while leading them out of the guard's headquarters. The teens were already lightening up a bit when they got out of the building. Their smiles got swiped away quickly though, when they saw Ako waiting outside.

Usually Ako's mood was bright. She would joke around, hug her students (especially Bolt) a lot and be the center of all good mojo. Not today. She wore a leather jacket over a crop top that said "pop culture reference" and ripped black jeans with black block heel bootees. Her hair was open (usually a sign of great happiness), but her face was telling a whole different story: her lips pressed together, eyes narrowed, nose wrinkled. She did not look pleased.

"Oh hey Senpai," Mirai started, but she didn't get through.

"WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FEELS TO GET A CALL FROM THE ROYAL GUARD REGARDING YOUR STUDENTS? USE YOUR IMAGINATION AND FOR ONCE! FOR FUCKING ONCE THINK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS! And now get over there," Ako pointed at a street sign, "and stay! You are not allowed to talk! NOW!"

The last time Bolt had seen their teacher like this had been, when she had found out that the D rank mission they were on was just a ruse to infiltrate the village with killer clowns. She had single handedly beat up 30 members of a travelling circus and held them at bay until her students were back with help. Back then her student's life had been on the line.

Sarada couldn't imagine what kind of thoughts she must have had, hearing that her students were in the custody of the royal guard and the guardian shinobi. Neither of the teens opened their mouth to utter a word of resistance.

"Wow, you are having a bad day, aren't you?" Mirai frowned a little. Ako on the other hand was trying to calm down.

"I was just… you know. How would your mother feel if she had gotten the call I just got," she brushed some strands of hair behind her ears, holding up her phone, "will there be any consequences..?"

Mirai shook her head, "not that I know of. Don't worry. By the way: Got time tonight? It's my free night and we haven't seen each other in almost… how long..? A little more than one year?"

"Yeah… These rascals are in detention tonight. So I guess I can have a drink or two with you," the teacher sighed, rubbing her face. Why did she get the most problematic group again? Oh right. She loved a challenge. Damn self-confidence.

"Good, let's meet at nine at the Takayama station. And," Mirai came closer to whisper into her senpai's ear (even though she had to get on her toes to do so), "wear something more comfortable. You know."

Ako raised her eyebrows, but didn't reply anything. Instead she just nodded, sighed and went to pick up her students beneath the street sign.

* * *

The ride back was a sad one. Ako was angry at Sarada and Bolt. She didn't say a word to them, scorning them with silence. Receiving that call from the royal guards had given her quite a shock. With those two anything could have happened. She watched in silence as both kids seemed to feel bad. They didn't talk or even dared to look at her.

Back at the hotel they got strict orders from their teacher: No TV, no games, no fighting. They would have to stay in and Ako would leave with them the next day, returning to Konoha. She didn't know how to 'punish' them any better than with cutting their holiday short. Ako hated being strict on them. But at some point they had to learn that they couldn't do just anything without consequences.

"I don't know when I'll be back," Ako had bent down to close her shoes, "stay here and don't do anything stupid. Otherwise I will have to report to the Hokage. And trust me: I don't want to do that…"

"Have a nice evening," Sarada carefully said, looking up from her current book ("A history of the fire country").

"You too," Ako sighed. Bolt nodded. He had been sulking in the corner ever since they got back. "There is money for pizza on the table. See you."

Ako closed the door behind herself and climbed on top of the hotel. She had remembered Mirai asking for more comfortable clothes. Therefore she had donned her work-out outfit (yoga pants and an anti-sweat top). In front of her was Keishi City. The place was already great by day, but at night thousands of little lights were opening windows into the life of the city's residents. Around the center skyscrapers had been erected with spotlights getting lost in the dark night sky. Only in the very middle of the town was a dark spot – the area around the sacred tree and its shrines were forbidden to have light at night. The priests said it was to give the spirits time to rest.

The teacher put up her hair into a ponytail and jumped onto the next roof.

"Downtown it is," she grinned.

* * *

Donk.

Donk.

Donk.

Donk.

"Could you please stop this?" Sarada didn't know why or where, but Bolt had found a tennis ball and was casually throwing it at the ceiling.

"Sarada, it's boring. Let's do something!"

"The last time we 'did' something, we ended up in an interrogation room. But if you have an idea that won't get us into any trouble, I'm in."

"We could play cards!"

"You were always the best at cards. I don't need to try to know that I would lose."

"I could teach you?" Bolt got up from his comfortable spot on the couch to sit across from Sarada at the table. He grabbed a piece of cold pizza. "You could learn from the master of card games how to play and maybe you will one day stand a chance against me?"

The girl observed him closely over the edge of the book, her eyebrows curled. He once again had that determined look in his eyes, as if he was challenging her. In comparison to last time though, it was a lot more playful.

"Yeah… and if I win you'll be angry at me for having learned something. Rather not…"

Bolt pouted, "You don't have a better idea right? So why not?"

"I actually like reading my book. Maybe you should try it too sometimes. It can be very educational," Sarada shifted her eyes back down. She had just found an interesting part concerning the origins of the daimyo's clan and their hazel wort crest.

"Oh why have I to be locked in here with the most boring person in the world? If we had just found Shizumasa…"

Bolt sighed, wiggled his foot up and down. It made Sarada nervous. He needed attention now, she got that.

"So…" Sarada put the book down, "what do you think Shizumasa is up to right now?"

"Maybe he is sleeping in a king-sized bed?"

"Maybe he just had a bath in a huge bathtub with bubbles everywhere?"

"What if he was just in a fine restaurant with a beautiful princess from somewhere far away?"

"What if they were in the path together?!"

Bolt stared at Sarada, "did you just imply something nasty?" She put her hands in front of her mouth.

"No no I didn't!"

Bolt started laughing at her red face, "this is awesome! And I thought you were going to stay like this forever hahahaha!"

Bolt almost fell of his chair with laughter and after some seconds even Sarada started to giggle. Their fun had a quick end though, when somebody knocked at the door.

"The neighbors…?" Bolt got up, stretched and went to open the door.

Sarada closed her book, "don't open. Ako has a key and you don't know who is on the other side!" She got up and tried to stop him, but too late. Bolt had opened the door and…

"What the-"something had fallen through the open door atop of the blonde. It was bigger than him, soft and smelled like an ugly mixture of blood, beer, shit and elderberries.

Sarada had run to the kitchenette and grabbed a large meat knife, but when she saw who entered after the smelly body had fallen onto Bolt, she quickly put it back into the drawer.

Mirai Sarutobi entered, her breath heavy, her body full of dirt. She held her left arm and let herself fall onto the couch. Ako entered right after her. The teacher's hair had fallen from the ponytail and was tousled around her shoulders. And she had lost her top somewhere on the way.

Bolt rolled the thing away from him and got up, "what the hell happened to you? And what is this?"

"Shhh," Ako looked around, closed the door and locked it. She then checked all the windows. When she was sure that nobody could peek in without using ninjutsu, she turned around. "You don't recognize him? Well, I can't blame you."

Sarada slowly approached the lump of flesh. It really smelt bad.

"…this is a human?"

"And an actually living one," Ako turned the body over, carefully picked it up and brought it to the couch. She nudged at Mirai to scoop over and placed the body on the soft fabric.

"Sarada, come over here and see what you can do for him. Bolt," Ako turned to the blonde, "get us a bowl with warm water, a towel and fresh clothes. There should have been a bathing yukata in the closet."

The girl stepped closer some more, "what… no… who is this?" She carefully examined the body with her eyes. It was a boy of maybe sixteen to eighteen years. He wore dirty rugs that maybe once had been white. Somebody had cut out the family crest on the chest part. The body was laced with small cuts, some of them infected, others had reopened after the body had been moved. The face was worse tough. It might have been beautiful once, but now there were deep cuts and cigarette holes all over it. Sarada only slightly touched one of the bruises, but the boy let out a loud moan anyways. He had no hair and his head showed signs of razor burn. Somebody had knotted a dirty piece of cloth over his eyes. It was stiff from probably previously being wet with blood or something similar.

When Sarada took it away, she jumped back. Where the eyes had been, only two deep red crusted holes stared at her.

"Who is this," she looked at her teacher, horror in her eyes. Bolt came close, to give the girl a little comfort.

Mirai eyed Ako and shook her head. The teacher's eyes darkened.

"This is Shizumasa… or at least what's left of him."

End of Chapter 34

* * *

**_Welcome back!_**

_I know, I'm late again. But at least you get your updates, right? Most of my favorite storys didn't get any updates in over a year... And I really had to celebrate: I finally got the grade on my bachelor thesis and I freaking aced it! I couldn't be much happier at the moment..._

_Bolt is, has always been and will always be a rapscallion. His jokes change over time in size, intensity and overall nature, but the fact that he composes them won't. I don't pitty Sarada for being stuck with him all the time XD Back to the topic... this chapter introduces a temporary character: Mirai Sarutobi. If you remember, I already brought her up in the second exam when Sarada and Shizumasa talked. She is his teacher and just as worried about him as his team mates and Ako are.  
And then we have that last part in which Shizumasa is finally discovered again. It wasn't an easy decision on what had happened to him, but I didn't want to do (as we say in Germany) "half baked things". His story has never been a happy one. A friend of mine asked if the thing with the eyes wasn't too harsh, but I think it fits in well with the overall Naruto theme of people (*caugh* Uchiha *caugh*) exchanging eyes like their underwear..._

_Anyways: What did you think? Were you shocked? Did you expect something like this to happen? Are you excited or afraid for the upcoming chapters?  
Please leave a review or send me a PM with your thoughts. I do appreciate them :D _

_And for anybody who hasn't heard about it: There is a new Naruto related project coming up around the 18th/19th of December! Strap on your forehead protector and grab a kunai - we are going on an adventure!_

_Thank you for reading Finding Papa!_

_Hope to see you soon,_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thank you all for reading this story and for leaving your thoughts! You keep me going!_

_**Dark princess**: Just my opinion, but I guess as soon as he sees her without glasses for real it could hit him like a warhammer XD Like "wtf who is that person" :D Thank you for reading the story! Hope to see you next week! Your Usagi  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Trust me - driving a car is fun! And I do get your point about that whole study thing... Yes, my first language is German. But while German once may have been the language of poets and poetry (Goethe, Schiller,...) it now is primarily used for describing things in detail. English is a much better language for expressing emotions. Well.. Japanese is good too XD Thank you for the review! Take care!  
_

_**Rdk3**: I actually doubt that anyone but the ANBU is able to use stealth at all :D Thank you so much for the praise! I worked really hard on that ending. It was the first ark and I didn't want it to end on a bitter note... The end of this ark right now might be bitter. I am trying to give the story a much darker, more mature twist. Since this is the first story I am really going through with (my word document is now at page 170), I don't know if I am capable of doing so. But I'll give my best as always. I'm sorry for the lazzy updates lately. The mixture of not knowing if I actually passed my thesis or not, not having a job and having moved back in with my parents really drained my brain. It sometimes feels empty. But then again it imagines crazy Skyrim storys that it compells me to act out -.- thanks brain. The next update is scheduled for Thursday - and I don't plan on delaying it! Thank you very very much, your reviews always make me smile and the effect lasts the whole day :D Take care and see you soon, your Usagi  
_


	37. Chapter 35: Research

_Because I have work in 30 minutes, I'll be answering these weeks reviews tomorrow! Just make sure to come back :D Have fun!_

* * *

Chapter 35: Research

Sarada's hands were calm. With all the professionality she could muster, she took care of Shizumasa's body. Bolt and Ako had cleaned his skin with towels and hot water. Sarada had then disinfected a sharp knife and started opening the infected wounds. Ako (as their teacher) was always carrying around a small bag with emergency necessities: band aids, wrappings, ointment, disinfection paste… Sarada cleaned the cuts of yellow puss and would put the paste on them. Bolt would patch them up with band aids or wrappings afterwards, depending on the size of the wound.

Shizumasa didn't say anything. Throughout the whole procedure all he did was groan or moan on occasion. But he never uttered a whole word. Only when Sarada tried to clean out the wounds his eyes had left behind, he would hiss a silent "stop it" at her.

"I'll just clean the outside then." The girl wasn't unhappy to not have to stick her finger into his skull. She was no full-fledged medical ninja. She didn't know and couldn't really say how to treat such a wound right. It was her holiday now, but damn did she wish her mother was there.

Mirai had fallen asleep in the big arm chair. Ako provided a blanket. Her younger college had had been fighting bravely before. The excitement had probably gotten her very tired.

When Sarada was done, Bolt wrapped Shizumasa into a fresh bathing yukata the hotel had provided.

"He'll need to take a shower later," he grabbed another blanket from the bed and put it over the now sleeping teenager. The boy also grabbed a cushion, puffed it up and carefully put it beneath Shizumasa's head. Sarada was astounded about how caring he could be. Not challenging or mocking at all. Just genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of his friend.

"He can do that when he wakes up." Ako stretched her muscles and picked the boy up, "sorry Bolt. You tucked him in very nicely but we should let him sleep on the bed. Do you mind?"

Bolt pouted again, but he didn't complain. Instead he followed Ako with the cushion and put it down right before she laid the body down. The teacher carefully put the blanked back in its spot before getting a bottle with water from the mini bar. She placed it right next to Shizumasa on the sideboard. When he woke up, he would be thirsty, she figured.

A quick glance at the clock told her that it was already three in the morning. Far too late for her understanding.

"Kids… Don't fight over it, but we gotta sleep and we only have two beds left. So-"

"I'll sleep on the couch," Sarada picked up her pajamas, "I'll just brush my teeth."

"Then I'll take whatever is left," Bolt shrugged, "I think Miss Mirai should sleep in the other bed. And I will just-"

"It feels great to see you so reasonable," Ako almost teared up upon her student's selfless proclamations, "but if that's the case Sarada will sleep in the last remaining bed, Mirai next to Shizumasa, Bolt you got the couch and I will take the arm chair. It looks pretty neat. Now chop chop," she yawned, "it's already late."

And it was done as Ako said.

* * *

The rest of the night was calm. No one disturbed them. None of them woke up. All of them had weird dreams though. Bolt would later tell a tale of how he was fighting a giant bee, Sarada got crushed by a book stack. Mirai dreamt of being thrown into a void, being all alone and Ako saw how she tried to protect her students, friends and family, but failed.

Morning came, but they didn't get up. Only Bolt once slurped through the hotel room to close the curtains. It was around noon when Sarada woke up to some swearing of the worst kind. She blinked to see straight. Shizumasa was sitting on the edge of the bed, his yukata drenched with water from the bottle. Mirai was already helping him. She simply dried the bottle on her shirt and handed it to Shizumasa. He lifted it up with shaking hands and almost drenched his whole face, but managed to finally drink. If Sarada hadn't known better, she would have guessed that he had a fever or a harsh form of the common cold. Then again she remembered the how they had found him the night before. It was a miracle he could sit straight. Slowly she worked her way out of the bed. Sarada Uchiha was definitely not a morning person.

"How are you," Sarada whispered to Shizumasa. The teenager jumped at her voice.

"Sarada? How are you here," his voice was raspy, as if he hadn't used it in a long time.

"You are here with me, Bolt, Ako and the one who gave you the bottle is Mirai. Mirai Sarutobi. You do remember her?"

He nodded. Mirai carefully put her arm around him. Shizumasa's body stiffened, as if ready to defend himself.

"I won't hurt you…"

"Sorry…" he relaxed just a tiny bit.

Sarada eyed him warily. Whatever had happened to him in these two weeks must have been a nightmare. All his wounds and bruises. Him jumping at the slightest touch. This wasn't the Shizumasa she knew, but a shadow of his former self.

"How are you feeling," Sarada asked carefully. She didn't want to upset him, "do you hurt?"

At first he didn't react. Then he slightly turned his head towards the direction her voice had come from.

"I'm fine. Some of the cuts hurt. But otherwise I'm fine."

"Good… do you want to take a shower?"

Shizumasa nodded.

"Mirai… would you please help him?"

"It's ok," the teenager got up from the bed quickly, only to sway around. If he still had his eyes, his vision would have been darkened since his blood circulation wasn't at its peak yet, "just tell me the general direction of the bathroom…"

In the end Mirai did escort him to the bathroom. She helped him orientate in the small plastic bath and closed the door behind her, "do you think he needs the light or can I just put it out? To preserve energy I mean?"

"If you do that the air conditioning will also stop and he'll notice that," someone groaned from across the room. Ako had woken up.

"Oh… how about breakfast then?"

"Mind getting some with Sarada? There is a convenience store just down the street. I'd love some onigiri. With tuna please."

"I want a sandwich with eggs," Bolt rolled over on the couch, "and please tell me why my back is stiff like a p-"

Ako shoved the boys head into his pillow to muffle the obscene comment.

It took Sarada and Mirai half an hour to get everything. They would buy fresh band-aids, three two liter bottles with water, enough sandwiches to feed three Bolt's, cup ramen, onigiri in different flavors and even some nikku man which had just been freshly made.

Sarada was pondering the whole time. It was just crazy. Their teammate vanishes for two whole weeks without a trace, only to reappear out of nowhere, looking like he had been in hell. Who would do such a thing? Who would rip out the eyes of a 16 year old boy? She could understand if someone was after her eyes. After all, she was an Uchiha and there was always someone willing to pay enough money to get their hands on rare talents. She remembered when Bolt's family had found out that his sister possessed the byakugan, their mother's family trademark eye technique. It was common to place anyone who wasn't a member from the main branch of the family under the control of a seal on their forehead, to make sure nobody got their hands on these eyes. The current branch leader, Bolt's aunt Hanabi, had made an exception for her big sister who was an excellent fighter and the wife of the hokage. The chance that anybody got their hands on her eyes was absolute zero. Her daughter was a whole other story: especially the elders insisted on having the seal on Himawari Uzumaki. They feared that the girl may be killed and her eyes taken. But the thing they mostly feared was a Hyuuga decedent who wasn't under the control of the main family. It wasn't until Himawari lost it and beat up all these old geezers. And she hadn't been much older than eight, making the old guys realize that it was hopeless.

But why Shizumasa? Why the prince of the fire country? He wasn't even the crown prince. Speaking of him…

Sarada looked at her companion, "Mirai-san do you know about the crown prince's whereabouts? Is he alright?"

"Uh yes, he is. Why are you asking?"

"I was just thinking. Why attack the third prince and not the crown prince?"

Mirai grinned, "Maybe we'll find out. Ako and I stored an asset in the laundry room of your hotel. We'll get him after breakfast to question him."

* * *

Breakfast was a rather dull affair though.

While Shizumasa had gone back to sleep after the shower (Sarada highly supported this since her mother had taught her that a person feeling not well, especially needed rest) and the rest of the group crowded around the small table to eat in silence (to not wake the prince up). When the dishes were done, Ako left to extend their stay at the hotel for two more nights. Mirai on the other hand went to get the asset from the laundry chamber. The "asset" was a dirty man in his thirties, dressed in rags with bloody scars all over his tattooed skin. Sarada assumed Ako had gone dark phoenix on his ass. He was unconscious, only slowly waking up. It gave the adults enough time to fill the kids in what had happened the night before.

"Well," Ako began, "where to start? I jumped from rooftop to rooftop and met you downtown, right?"

Mirai nodded, "yepp. And after we convinced Ayame from the ramen restaurant that we were not sent by her father to get her home by force..."

* * *

"That was close! I thought she was gonna skin us with her knifes," Ako leaned against a wall. She was panting.

"I didn't see that coming. I really didn't see that coming…"

Mirai sighed and slid down the wall Ako leaned against.

"So… you said you had an idea where Shizumasa might be?" Ako sat down next to the other woman.

"I found a clue to where to look first," Mirai reached into her pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper. Ako took the first one. It was a copy of a contract. The teacher skimmed over it.

"…why would the crown prince sign an assassination contract?"

"Beats me," Mirai rubbed her head, "I found it last week in a bucket meant for the incinerator. I kept it with me just in case. After all the crown prince had signed it. What would have happened if someone less trustworthy than me from the incinerator operators would have found it and given it to the press? A disaster."

"So why are you showing me this? What was the purpose of meeting here if it was just about some top-secret assassination? Why involve me," Ako's eyes narrowed. She figured she wouldn't like what was coming up next.

"Look at the picture. The second paper I gave you. It's a screenshot from one of our surveillance cameras on the underground entrance of the palace."

"You have an underground entrance? Interesting," Ako turned the picture around to have a better look at it. It was dark and kind of blurry. But she was able to piece together three silhouettes. There were two men she didn't know flanking a person with shining white hair-

"When did the camera pick this up? And why would Shizumasa enter his own palace through the back door?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Ako raised an eyebrow, "…yes?"

"No one knew he even came home. And I, his trainer and bodyguard, I wasn't even told that he quit the chunin exams."

"Oh shit…"

Ako didn't know what to say. At first she had thought that Shizumasa had gotten tired of fighting. Or that he simply didn't want to go through with the exam. Maybe his brother had given him permission to enter the guards already and he didn't need to finish the exam. None of this was a reason to quit the exam in Ako's eyes, but she would have understood. This development though, got her worried. She checked the date of the assassination contract. It was one day before Shizumasa had vanished. Shit.

"Do you think he is alright?"

Mirai pulled up her legs and rested her chin on them. "I don't know. The contract doesn't say anything. But I checked the camera footage and Shizumasa doesn't appear anymore. It's like he entered and vanished. There is a huge underground tunnel system beneath the palace in case the royal family has to escape quickly. He might be hiding there. But why would he be hiding away? Why wouldn't he ask me for help? He knows how much I care about his wellbeing… And I don't have the clearance to go down into the tunnels to look for him…"

"Let's go and pay these assassins a visit," Ako jumped up. Her expression had changed from worried to determined. She was going to find out what happened to her short term student.

The two women sneaked away from downtown and made their way towards the more ugly parts of Keishi City. Northern of the city center were the parts of town that slept at day and were light up in bright red and pink at night. Women in revealing yukata, skirts or net bodysuits were waving towards men who were – of course coincidentally – passing by. Mirai spotted a tiny fat man at one street corner. He wore a leather jacket, showing off his whole body tattoo beneath it.

Ako slammed him against the wall when he didn't want to answer her question. Her usually playful eyes had turned into a dangerous shade of anger and intimidation. When the man at first had told her to lose some of her clothing and he might consider answering her for special services in return, he was now shivering at the aura the shinobi jounin was emitting.

"Where do I find the people working under this sign," she asked once more, showing him the stamp above the assassination contract.

"J-just down the road to the left," he stuttered, "their headquarters are in the back of the n-n-nightcrawlers c-c-club! Please don't hurt me!"

"Oh I won't hurt you," Ako slightly backed up, putting him back on his feet.

"Thank god you b-" but her fist cut off his rude response, sending him into his own personal lulu-lala land.

Mirai raised an eyebrow, "do you think it was necessary to hurt him like this? I mean he gave us the information…"

"He has a cellphone," Ako turned to the right into a dark street, "I guess he knows at least someone there and I didn't want to give him the possibility to warn them."

They stopped in front of a broken neon sign. "So this is the Nightcrawler Club? Then this," Mirai stepped to the right and entered a small passage between two houses, "is the back of the club."

At the end of the passage was a wall with a door. It was metal and had the same sign on it as the contract. The women gave each other a nod, then they kicked down the door.

"Well hello bitches," Ako grinned and punched the first guy running towards her in the face.

Chapter 35 End

* * *

**_Hello there!_**

_We are getting a new manga called "BORUTO" by Kishimoto-sensei's assistant. I'm not sure if I should cry or laugh or júst be happy or whatever. It just really feels like back then with Gaiden like this story isn't needed anymore. With all the books and stuff I already feel like they take away a lot of freedom from the readers to imagine things themselves (like Sasuke Shinden, Gaiden, the whole Hiden series,...). I love these! But well.. I like imagining my own things :/  
_

_Also: The new Star Wars movie is out! I watched it, I loved it! Go watch it guys :D_

_This chapter is half normal story, half flashback. Shizumasa may seem... ok, but he is not. He defenitelly is not ok at all! But you'll get more of it later on ;) _

_How did you like the chapter? I hope you enjoyed it! Next week is christmas - I hope I can upload a chapter. _

_See you then! _

**_Your Usagi_**


	38. Chapter 36: Bolt's taking a Stroll

Chapter 36: Bolt's taking a stroll

"You do remember that we are called shinobi, ninja – do you?"

"Because I distracted them you were able to be stealthy and get us some informations from the office in the back, weren't you?"

Ako searched in her pocket for some gum and stuck it between her teeth.

"Yeah about that," Mirai pulled a very scared man around the corner. He wore a fine suit which was now slightly covered with blood as if somebody had sprayed it on, "this guy just send all the documents to downtown."

"We are in downtown."

"That's bureau slang for a shredder."

"Oh."

Ako scratched her head, "any digital versions of it?"

"Do burning hard drives count?"

"It would take weeks for the forensics to piece the data together again… so… how about," Ako observed the office. She was thinking. With a sigh she turned back to the guy again. "So I guess you can tell us."

The man started sweating. He pulled his tie down with one finger, with his free hand he corrected the stance of his glasses.

"You won't get any information from me, lady!"

* * *

Five minutes later the two women were walking down a set of stairs. Ako had the unconscious clerk on her shoulder. He had gotten her sports shirt bloody so she had gotten rid of it. Mirai hadn't even rolled her eyes. The guy had been singing like a bird after Ako had pinched him here and there. The young guardian shinobi wasn't good at interrogations, so she happily left it to Ako. But what she thought would take hours, only lasted those five minutes. What Ako had done? Mirai couldn't tell. But the clerk was out cold and bleeding from his nose.

"The basement. They have him there. He didn't get to tell me why but that can wait."

And that was how they found a hidden trapdoor in the men's bathroom. Ako threw the clerk down to make sure nothing was there to hurt them. It was dark, but when nothing happened the women climbed down a ladder and followed down the wooden steps of a spiral staircase. There was no handrail and the middle was just a gaping hole. But Mirai and Ako were trained shinobi. Nothing they couldn't take on. The only unlucky part was the absence of light.

When they finally reached the end of the stairs, Mirai went ahead, scouting out if there were any more guards or other types of idiots waiting for them. Ako waited for a sign that the coast was clear, but instead she heard a cry, "Ako now! Please!"

Ako let the clerk fall and ran into the dungeon. There were too many corridors to search them all, but Mirai had lit a torch and Ako followed the flaring light. She found the torch in front of a cell. The entrance as an arch with thick metal bars. Mirai had busted open the lock and ran into it. The smell of blood and foulness was everywhere. Ako wasn't sure, but the puddle in one corner smelled like urine. She didn't want to know. With her eyes she searched for Mirai and found her in a corner, cradling a body.

"Is this…" Ako came closer to see who Mirai was clinging to so desperately.

"It's him."

Mirai tugged on the dirty rags on the body. She put her finger beneath a fine set of lines in the skin. Ako wasn't sure what these meant, but the way Mirai behaved, there was no doubt this was Shizumasa. The teacher came closer to finally take in everything the boy had endured.

"Those bastards."

Mirai looked up. Ako couldn't really see her expression.

"If I ever find out who is behind this," the guardian shinobi said in a pressed, low voice, "I will make them pay."

Ako shook her head, "not today. Come, we need to get him out of here. I'm sure Sarada can have a look at his wounds…"

* * *

"And after carrying around two unconscious bodies without being caught by the police, we ended up on the roof of the hotel and ta-da: here we are," Ako concluded the story.

The group had crowded around the small table at the couch to listen. Bolt had cooked some more tea since there was no more left after breakfast. Listening to the story somehow made him aggressive. How could they hurt his friend like this? Who gave them the right to do so? The shock and worry he had felt after seeing his friend dirty and beat up had changed into downright furry.

Sarada was different. She had listened to the tale, but hadn't gotten angry. Her mind had started running in circles: Who would want Shizumasa assassinated? Everybody who had a problem with the fire country's Daimyo presumably. But why the third prince? If he should have been assassinated, why was Shizumasa still alive? Why carve out his eyes? Why treat him like an animal? Why? But any streak of thoughts just brought her back to the first question. Who wished for the third prince, whose chance to be Daimyo one day were per se zero, of a country dead?

"So… what now? Do we tell someone?" Sarada looked at her teacher. She didn't know what to do. Maybe Ako had a plan of some sort. But Ako just shook her head.

"We need to inform the Hokage. Actually we should have informed him last night. But Shizumasa is a prince and I don't trust a bird or any electronic thing with this information," she pointed towards the bed where Shizumasa was sleeping. The teacher had never been a friend of these inventions lately. Small phones that made her available to anybody who got her number at any given time? No thanks. If she had the number of the Hokage himself, Ako may have considered calling him at least. But since she wasn't that high-ranking, there was no way she would pick up the phone. The fact that her student Bolt maybe had his father's office number got totally lost in the process.

"This is ridiculous," someone angrily grunted against the window. Bolt threw his hands into the air, turning around to the others again, "I can't take this! We don't know shit about what happened, do we?! And since sleeping beauty over there is – well – sleeping like a baby, we won't get any information from him either."

Sarada sighed. If Shizumasa had heard the blonde, he surely would have had a great comeback. Still, if the prince had heard Bolt, he would have never been called sleeping beauty in the first place. How she wished they would just start bickering like they had done in the second exam…

Mirai gestured him to be quiet, "Don't wake him up! I highly doubt he had much sleep the last two weeks." But Bolt just grunted and picked up his jacket.

"I'm out of here! See you tonight…"

"Bolt! No running off now," Ako tried to command, but the blonde was already out the door, slamming it shut. "Kids," was all the teacher could say now. He would take care of himself. Her other student needed protection now, so she would stay where Shizumasa was.

There was a groan from the other side of the hotel room where they had chained the clerk too. It seemed like the slamming of the door finally woke him up from his slumber. At least that was something.

Ako and Mirai helped him stand, unchained and seated him in the middle of the room on a wooden chair. They made sure he had his back towards the bed where Sarada was checking on Shizumasa again. That clerk would never see Shizumasa in such a state. And of course: It was better he didn't know Sarada was there. If there had been a chance, Ako would have liked that Sarada and Shizumasa weren't anywhere close at all.

But it was time to finally crack the clerk and get all information possible. To see what their next step was.

"Well good morning," Ako threw a glass of cold water into the clerks face. He started coughing.

"Was this really necessary," he angrily spit out some water, "and oh my god what did you do to mess up my suit like this? This is Armani!"

Mirai and Ako glanced at each other. Did that guy actually comprehend in what kind of situation he was..?

"Ok Brad Pitt, let me fill you in: You are our captive and you are now going to answer us all the questions we ask you truthfully, got that?"

"Screw you!"

Ako let it slip, "what is your name?"

"As if I would tell you my-"

"Mirai, please do your thing…" Ako groaned. She had just asked for his name and if he was like this with his name, how annoying would he be if she asked him anything of importance?! Usually the teacher would just use a combination of genjutsu and torture to get what she wanted, but with Sarada and Shizumasa around, there wasn't much she could do. Or rather wanted to do. Mirai on the other hand, was the daughter of one of Konoha's genjustu specialists: Kurenai Yui. And as much Mirai had been taught about her father's techniques by the Hokage advisor Shikamaru Nara, she could still hold her own as the best genjutsu user in her generation.

The young guardian shinobi brushed her wild hair back before forming some seals with her hands. Mirai's attack hit the clerk before he could comprehend what was happening. Within a second his expression changed from angered and defiant to relaxed and happy.

"Young master what can I do for you," he smiled at Mirai with obedience.

"Ok that's creepy… But let's go," Ako sat down on the kitchen counter, "your turn to ask questions Mirai."

"What is your name?"

"My name is Taro Takanawa, my lord."

"Lady," Mirai whispered, "I'm a lady… who are you working for?"

"The clan of silence. We are a group that has sworn to do any biding the shinobi have stopped to do for money."

"What kind of things?"

"Since the change in leadership in Konoha they have stopped to take on private assassination contracts. We also take care of guiding unwilling people to a goal set by our contractor…"

"…like?"

"Last week there was a young lord who wanted to marry a village girl. We escorted her."

Mirai nodded to Ako, "he is now deep in the genjutsu. We can get to business with him."

The teacher grinned

* * *

Bolt was rambling through the city. After leaving the hotel he had taken a route into the city's business district. He remembered correctly and short after reaching the city hall, he found the park in the middle of town with the holy tree.

As soon as he had passed the first layer of huge trees, the noises of the city vanished into the background. Almost deafening silence surrounded him, only broken by the rippling of a small stream. The boy crossed it by walking over a nicely worked wood bridge with red railings. Behind the first ring of trees was a huge grass field. Some kids were playing ball. It was afternoon already and Bolt figured they had just finished school. There had been times when he would play ball with his little sister after getting home from the academy. But when he became a genin, he didn't really have a regular schedule anymore. Himawari had more than once waited for him after coming home from the academy herself, but he wouldn't be home until her bed time. With time she stopped waiting for him. She found friends of her own to hang out after school and started training with her mother sometimes. Bolt envied her. Not only did she get training with one of her parents all by herself, but she also was an exceptional talent. He himself wasn't bad either, but if he wanted to be good or even better, he had to work hard to advance from average.

A crowd of people yelled "huh" into his direction. It was a school of karate students learning how to do a kick in unison. Bolt thought karate was ridiculous. After the war a lot of people had decided they wanted to learn how to fight, to protect themselves. All of the sudden dojos all around the fire country were overrun with students and they had to build new facilities. This was hard to do in a city with limited space, therefore the students had to train in the parks. But the many people wanting to learn karate, shaolin or one of the many other rather static fighting arts couldn't stand against a one year academy student. Or so Bolt thought.

He walked around the park and followed the path into the center. Behind a second ring of trees was the shrine of the holy tree. Bolt had pictured it much more impressive than it was: Instead of a palace like building, he found an old wooden shrine. It was built like any old house had been. It was only four walls around an inner yard. Bolt cleaned his hands and mouth with water before entering. He might not have been impressed, but he still respected the gods.

He passed the two protective statues of the sage of six paths and his brother. At least that's what Bolt had been taught at ninja academy. The inner yard was full of gravel. Some miko were sitting behind tables, selling charms and whatsoever. Bolt liked the little bags with bells on them. There was a small apple tree on which the people had knotted their bad fortune in hopes of it not becoming true. Some stands were filled with wooden tablets with wishes and greetings from all around the shinobi world. They would be burned on the next new years ceremony to pray for good fortune.

And there was the sacred tree. It was huge, the stamp maybe 15 meters diameter. The trunk reached up into the sky. Bolt couldn't see the crown. But it didn't have any branches, there were no leaves. It looked dead to the boy. Like a relic of a time long gone that someone had forgotten to clean up. If he could have, Bolt would have knocked against the bark to see if it was hollow, but a fence surrounding the monument stopped him from doing so.

After his visit at the shrine Bolt just walked around the city. The sun slowly crawled towards the city horizon as the boy reached the palace grounds once again. He thought for a second, then jumped into the crown of a tree to not be seen. With perfect moves he jumped from branch to branch, from tree to tree, closer towards the castle. This time he wouldn't just barge into there. He knew Shizumasa wasn't home. And what was wrong with sniffing around somewhat. Maybe he could even gather information that would be helpful? He already heard Sarada admire his courage and Shizumasa falling to his knees, thankfully because Bolt had caught the culprit.

Bolt tip-toed to the end of a branch. If he would leap, he would be able to land behind the castle wall, in the shadows between the actual castle and the protective wall around it. He waited for the guard to pass by and jumped. Quiet as a cat he touched the ground. The boy crouched down to not be noticed and walked around the castle once to see if there was any other entrance but the official one. When he was around completely once, the blonde spotted someone at the door.

A red haired boy was standing there, arguing with a soldier of the Daimyo's army. Bolt snuck up to them and hit the guard in the head. The man fell over and Bolt's grin met the bewildered gaze of the other boy.

"Don't tell me you want to get in there too," Bolt asked, "I thought you as the Kazekage's son could get in anywhere?"

"Said the Hokage's son who has been sneaking around the castle for 10 minutes," the red head held up a hand and Bolt accepted.

"Let's get in there Tadashi. Before somebody sees us."

"Follow me," Tadashi Sabakuno ducked and snuck into the royal castle. He turned sharply to the right and vanished behind a wall. Bolt followed and found himself in a small corridor.

"Classic construction," Tadashi grinned, "there are small hallways like this one between all the walls within this castle for the servants. Nobody uses them anymore, but this is our ticket in without an invitation. Let's go!"

"This is brilliant," Bolt whispered and followed Tadashi into the castle.

End of Chapter 36

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**_Fellows, I'm back!_**

_After one month of abscence and not uploading regulary in these last months, I am happy to announce: I finally got a job, a car and a flat! Meaning: I'm back because I finally have a regular schedule again. I really love slacking off, but I don't get anything done in these times.  
_

_The structure of this arc will be somewhat different than the previous one and some characters I introduced back then will be important now again. One of them is Tadashi, Gaara's son._

_I'm happy to be back! Please leave a review or write me a PM! Below, you will find all the review answers from the last two chapters (since I didn't answer them last time... I'm sorry...)_

_Take care!_

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thanks to everybody for reading this fanfiction! You are the ones who keep me going! Special thanks to _  
_**Scarease **and **IamWhatIamBaby** for your kind reviews._

**SoundlessWorld**: Hey there, I'm sorry I kept you waiting... shame on me... shame... *ding ding* But you actually displayed the reaction I wanted to get when I decided what would happen to him. On the other hand.. I probably looked like the Major from Hellsing Ultimate when I wrote these chapters. And yeah... It is cruel. But this is no easy peasy lovey dovey story. And honestly: I don't really like storys in which nothing bad ever happens to the main cast. I'm a huge fan of storys where your favs could die any time. (Not that I'm going to go for that tone here, but still...) I hope you enjoyed the new chapter and please stay tunded :) Your Usagi

**Dark princess**: Shizumasa is out cold XD but who can blame him.. really. Poor boy. But Sarada is doing all she can! And Ako is getting any intel available from that clerk with Mirai's help. So we will see some solid story developement coming up next :D See you next week!

**astrayangelwings**: Thank you for your review :) You are awesome! Well, there is a lot happening right now and I really don't know if they will ever find each other... In the beginning they were like siblings. Not much of romance to develope there, but maybe they get the chance to meet each other.. like anew? A fresh start? Let's see ;) Thank you!

**Rdk3**: Hey there! I tried to write a christmas special. It was centered around Ako and what her story was before Finding Papa (why she got the team and not Konohamaru etc). But it got too depressing to be a story for christmas. Therefore I decided to post it some other time.. This is the part of a story I love the most: when you, as a writer, already know where you want to go and all you need to do is write it down. Damn... Some pretty neat fights are already in developement :3 See you soon, Your Usagi

**KarliCM**: I think Kylo is ok. It could have been worse :D And he got so much potential! hihihihi At least the memes about him are hilarious XD And jupp: Ako is gonna tell the Hokage and Bolt just broke into the royal castle... if there won't be any adults, I'd be suprised... see you next week and thank you!


	39. Chapter 37: A Conference

Chapter 37: A Conference

Sliding through the small corridor in between the castle walls was no easy task. Tadashi lead the way, Bolt followed. They had to walk sideways, squeezing themselves into tiny spaces, crouching beneath timber beams that were everywhere throughout the castle to keep it up. Sometimes Bolt had to scare away rats from his feet when they couldn't go on: sometimes Tadashi gave him a sing to stop walking and wait when a person would get too close to the wall they were in. Bolt would always hold his breath. Once some guy had stood there and hammered something into the wall. The blonde went almost blue.

They reached the center of the castle, where the well had been.

It really looked like nobody used it anymore to bring water up from the basement. It looked more like the maids would throw the used bed sheets and stuff down there. The cord of the pulley had rotten. A small part of it was still hanging on the top, while the other half was laying in the basement, right next to the dark well, wooden splinters all around it from the crushed water bucket. The hoist way went from down below up to the top where it was open to the top floor balcony. Bolt heard some guards chatting. Light sparely lit up the dark hole and showed that the walls maybe had been white once. On every floor they saw small wooden doors that would open into the rooms of the castle.

Bolt sighed. "And where were you headed again," he whispered to Tadashi. The red head had started to climb up a story by holding onto nails that hadn't been inserted completely.

"My sister is somewhere in this castle," Tadashi looked down towards Bolt, "grandma took her away right after her fight with that Uchiha girl had been canceled and I haven't seen her since," he tried to grab another nail, but failed to get it. His foot slipped and Tadashi fell. Bolt quickly extended a chain from his hand. The redhead grabbed it, slamming into the wall two stories below the blonde.

The damp sound echoed in the darkness.

The boys didn't move for a split second. Had someone heard them? Was anybody checking? As nothing happened, Tadashi started to climb up the chain. He grabbed Bolt's hand, who pulled him back onto a timber slap.

"Ok, it seems like we can't just climb up. Ok."

"Let me give you a hand."

"Again? Oh come on," Tadashi silently groaned, but was more than pleased with the solution Bolt suggested:

The blonde made one of his chains wrap around the useless pulley on the top and anchored it safely in the wall right where they were standing. Together they climbed up and slid in between two levels. An ancient ventilation shaft it seemed. There were voices coming from the room in the northern corner. Bolt decided to investigate with Tadashi quickly following him.

Neither had expected what they found: A huge room without windows, the floor cloistered with high quality tatami mats. Somebody had hung scrolls with golden inscriptions at the wall, an altar stood in one corner with flowers, incense and offerings to the gods for who knows what. The middle of the room was filled with a long wooden table. People in expensive clothes were sitting around it on cashmere cushions. Some men wore tailored suits, others were dressed in silk kimonos with traditional hairstyles. The few women were dressed in multi layered kimonos of all colors, with the same strict hairstyle.

Bolt and Tadashi were observing the group from above them, through small holes in the paper between the wood slaps. Two servants were serving tea.

"What is this," Bolt mumbled to himself.

Tadashi tugged on his friend's sleeve, crawling closer, "that's a royal banquet. All these people are aristocrats from the fire country. Just look," he pointed towards the end of the table, "he is the governor of the south district, the red head is the regent of the the west, formerly called Uzu no Kuni, and that lady over there," he nodded towards an elderly woman, "that's my grandma: the matriarch of the Minamoto family and currently in charge of the northern regions close to the rice country."

"Really?"

"Shhh!"

Bolt observed the woman closely. He couldn't see any resemblance to Tadashi or his sister in the face of the seemingly tiny woman in her great kimono. Her hair was silver, eyes starring into the other aristocrat's faces, but nobody dared to hold her gaze. What amazed Bolt the most, was that she had almost no wrinkles. Yes, she looked old, but nothing like the old women he knew from the village with laughter lines, forehead wrinkles or eye bags. Hers were more subtle.

Or maybe she just pulled her hair into that bun very harshly to straighten up her facial skin, Bolt thought and tried not to chuckle.

"Who will sit on the cushion next to her," the blonde pointed towards the one end of the table, right next to grandma Minamoto.

"That's the most important seat. The furthest from the door. Probably whoever called in all of these people will sit there. Must be someone important…"

"How do you know all this? Is learning stuff like this mandatory in Suna Gakure for the son of the Kazekage?"

"Hell no," Tadashi looked offended, "I was raised by her for some time together with Saeko…"

Bolt wanted to know why, but was cut off when the sliding door in one corner got opened and all the aristocrats suddenly sprung up, as if they had been stung by bees. All but the old lady Minamoto.

The blonde couldn't really see it, but the lean man who had entered was dressed in a simple beige kimono top and dark brown hakama trousers. He had black receding hair. Only when he had finally reached the other side and sat down next to the grandma, Bolt could see him fully: He was able to get a closer look: in between the small wrinkles of the almost 50 or something face, were two black dots for eyebrows above two blue, almost white eyes. As he was seated, the aristocrats followed his example.

"The eternal prince," Tadashi whispered, "crown prince Murasaki…"

"He looks very relaxed for someone whose brother has been missing for days," Bolt grunted.

"That white haired guy from your group has been missing?"

"Why do you think I'm here?"

"I don't know? Maybe-"

A guy from down below raised his head and mustered the ceiling. The boys shut up immediately.

"I appreciate you all coming here on my call," the crown prince's voice shut all the whispers in the room up and turned the attention onto him, "it must have been a nuisance to travel this far." His voice was calm, but the undertone made Bolt cringe. This man didn't care if traveling to Keishi had been a nuisance. He was just being polite. And everybody in the room knew.

"It must have been," a man from further down the table raised his voice with a sharp look towards Tadashi's grandmother, "some of us seem to still be tired. Maybe the lady Minamoto wishes to return to her room if she cannot even raise when her future Daimyo blesses her with his royal presence."

An insult it seemed, as some of the other aristocrats grinned or looked concerned.

"Takeharu of the Heishi clan… Grandma hates them as much as they hate her. Maybe even more," Tadashi whispered.

"Why?"

"Hundrets of years ago the Minamoto and the Heishi would fight over the governance of the north with the help of mercenary shinobi clans. It was one of the big conflicts where the Uchiha, hired by the Minamoto family, would meet the Sarutobi clan, hired by the Heishi. The current ruling family intervened and assimilated the country with the help of the Senju."

"Ah…"

"That's why the Sarutobi and Senju aligned in the first place. Didn't you know?"

Bolt just did a grimaced.

The meeting proceeded after a short exchange of diplomatic insults.

"You may be asking yourselves why I have called you here today," the crown prince ignored the banter of his loyalists, "as many of you may already know, the Daimyo's governance has changed over the years. Some may say the once brilliant leader lost his touch. Others say he has gone soft. But I think most of us agree that he has given too much power into the wrong hands. Who, I may ask, trusts a democratically elected group of people with the decisions concerning the governance of not only the capital district, but also the power over the country? The Daimyo's try to give his own power to incompetent people might be a sign of his old age. It might be a sign of bad influence. Or how could you explain, why he signed the contract to give a critical part of our military forces autonomy under their own governance? Never before has a Hokage had as much power as Uzumaki Naruto holds today. The city of Konoha Gakure has grown into an almost autonomic city state within our country. How could this happen?"

The aristocrats started whispering. Bolt gritted his teeth at his father's name.

"I may be wrong my lord," a younger man from the end of the table next to the door raised his voice, "but wasn't making the Fire country a democratic nation, with the Daimyo as a leading figure and third ruling instance, not a step to keep the peace and grant the people more freedom?"

Murasaki didn't even flinch at this obvious criticism of his words.

"The people are stupid," another man seated closer to the crown prince said, "giving them the right to decide who leads them will not change their incompetence! They will always follow the most charismatic and well known person, but who said that person would be the best candidate to lead the country? Take that commoner Don Ald Guff as an example: He was only able to become a minister by screaming what the folk wanted to hear – even if his words made no sense! Or how would you explain his wish to build a wall to the west to keep all these "unwanted work stealers from the Wind country" out? And concerning the village," the man turned towards the crown prince, "you are so very right! I cannot imagine how your proud father could give this unexperienced boy as much freedom as he has!"

"Boot licker," Tadashi hissed. He had a very bad feeling about what was coming up next.

"Naruto Uzumaki is a war hero," the first man stood up, "it is only thanks to him that any of us is alive!"

"That doesn't make him a qualified leader or politician!"

"If the lords would please listen until we have finished explaining what we wish to," the lady Minamoto's voice gave Bolt shivers. She clapped her hands and the servants opened the sliding door once more to let two people in. Now it was Tadashi who gasped, "why is she here?!"

The first one to enter had been a white haired girl. Bolt knew her well: Just a week ago or so she had almost killed him in the chunin exams. Houzuki Suihi had donned a uniform of grey shark leather. Her assembly blade was on her back and her Kiri Gakure headband held her white hair in place. She helped the person behind her enter carefully: A young girl in a mulit-layered flowery Heian kimono slowly walked in. She had difficulties to walk and Suihi had her hands ready to catch the girl.

"Saeko…" Tadashi sighed. His eyes had grown huge when his sister had entered in the getup. Bolt could tell that he hadn't expected this.

"May I introduce," the old lady Minamoto raised her voice again, "my granddaughter Minamoto Saeko."

"And what is this about," the guy from the Heishi clan angrily stated, "are you already training your bastard granddaughter to be your successor? She has no place on this table!"

"You may want to listen to the crown prince before opening your mouth. Maybe then you would be seated closer to his majesty," the old lady scoffed.

"As you all know, I have yet to acquire an heir." The crown prince's words shut the lords up again. "My marriage to the lady Ume of the Iron country has been unsatisfying in this regard. Combined with my great concern for this country's future, I have an announcement to make." His eyes flew over the nobles.

"I just recently discovered the reason why I have not yet been blessed with children of my own. You see, when I was married to my wife, I discovered a scar on her lower abdomen. She told me it was a scar from an accident. Thanks to one of my men the truth has been discovered," Murasaki grinned bitterly, "when the lady had been promised to me 25 years ago, the fire and stone country's had been at war. And I still remember the day I, a 17 year old prince, received the message that my bride to be had fallen ill and might not survive. I never asked which disease it had been. Whichever they wanted me to believe, it was a false report. They had decided to end the royal line of my father with me. They cut open their own princess's belly and threw away any organ she might need to have children."

The crown prince's words echoed through the room. Tadashi's grandma, Suihi and Saeko looked like the news weren't too surprising. They had probably known before. But the other nobles had difficulties to hide their emotions. Some looked like they were shocked, others as if they had anticipated an announcement like this.

The two boys above them, were more than shocked. But unlike the others, they didn't really understand politics and the significant meaning of the prince's words.

After a minute of silence Murasaki raised his voice again, "I think you now have understood my need to exchange my current wife with a new, younger bride." He raised his hand. "May I introduce to you the future queen of the fire country: Minamoto Saeko. She is young and has yet to reach the age to bear children, but this time I will make sure that she will give me an heir. As for the issue with my demented father… do not worry. Since I am sure of your loyalty," and his eyes didn't leave any room a no, "I am proud to announce that my bride to be will execute the lady Ume herself tomorrow night, right after my loyal shinobi guards have ended my father's demented reign."

* * *

"I told you I don't know! I told you-"

A bucket of cold water shut the clerk up.

"Stop lying to me, idiot!" Ako threw the empty plastic into a corner of the room. With a swift movement, she kicked over the chair. The man hit the floor with his head first. Some blood stained the carpet.

Ako was huffing. The clerk hadn't been any help. There was nothing to get out of him with Mirai's genjutsu. The teacher had then send Mirai away with the kids. Shizumasa had woken up and Sarada encouraged a walk in the nearby park. Ako on the other had took the opportunity. She wanted information about everything. She asked him why they had targeted Shizumasa. Who had sent them. When they had caught him. Why they cut out his eyes. And why the hell they would let the boy rot in a cell down in the dungeons, laying in his own piss.

But the clerk was nothing but a clerk it seemed. All he had taken care of, were the finances. And nothing about the contracts were written in those. He had followed his order and burned everything when the building had been under attack, but he never dared to read what was written in them. He told Ako about his family, about how he wanted to go home. That he had only taken on the job because it paid for his daughter's school.

Though it didn't look like the angry teacher wanted to hear that. Ako was furious. She wanted answers and she couldn't get them. She had just angered a huge underground network of assassins and she couldn't stand the thought of being on their target list without getting what she wanted. Of course, she could always barge into their headquarters head first, but this would take time. Time they didn't have.

She was wagering if cutting off a finger or two would help the situation, when the hotel room door was bashed open: Sarada, Bolt, Mirai, Shizumasa and a red head barged into the room.

"Ako we have news," Mirai said and locked the door. Sarada ran to the window and checked if there was anybody on the balcony. She then closed the curtains. It was night already.

The teacher backed away from the clerk, "what happened? You look totally messed up. And who is that boy?" She nodded towards Tadashi, who was trying to catch his breath.

"I'm Tadashi… Kazekage's son… remember?"

"Oh yeah.. that guy. So what's the deal?"

"Bolt..?"

But it wasn't Bolt who answered. The answer came from the bed, where the now bald third prince had set down again, "my brother has decided to kill his wife and to kill my father. He wants to stage a coup and when the sun rises two days from now, we will have a new Daimyo."

End of Chapter 37

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**_Hey there guys :)_**

_I love you all. That's why I toned down this chapter. A lot. At first I wanted Mursaki to just embarass his wife in front of everybody. Like... REALLY. But then I decided.. this is a story for teens. This is not Deadpool. So there you go, a nice, violence free chapter. _

_And the Daimyo Revolution arc (as it's called in my notes XD) is picking up the pace. Bolt has just discovered a plot to completelly throw over the county he is living in AND to take his father away from his power. The question he must ask himself now is, what he should do. If his father wouldn't have as much responsibility anymore, he might have more time for his family again? But would not doing anything be the right choice? Can a 14 year old boy actually do anything? (ok, the last question was stupid. This is a Naruto fanfiction. Of course he can do something if he wants to!)  
_

_The other thing is, how Sarada and especially their mutilated friend Shizumasa will react. After all, this is about his own family..._

_Well, the next chapter is already done and will answer some more questions, maybe even about what happened to Shizumasa in the time after his fight with Setsuna. Take care, see you guys! _

**_Your Usagi_**

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thanks to everybody for reading this story! Thank you for reviewing - it's you who keeps me going!  
_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Thank you for the review :) I know what you mean. But when I started this story, there weren't many new gen characters available... If I would start this story today, it would probably go a total different direction. On the other hand: I'm not sure if I even would start to write. Maybe I'd just wait for the Boruto manga to be released... I try to keep the balance with the main and secondary characters. Still, I'll always need the secondary ones to throw the main stars of this story into challenging situations. ~ YES! ADULT! WOHOOOOOOOOO... actually... no. No this ist getting ridicoulus. XD See you next week, take care!  
_

_**twillight3**: And here you go! An update within a week. Something I haven't done in a long time :) Thank you for reading Finding Papa!  
_

_**Neon and the Lost Soul**: ...a clffhanger comment. That actually made me laugh XDD never had one of those before! Thank you for reviewing! And yeah.. Some blood would be nice sometimes, but I'm never really sure how far I can go with this story. How much can my reader take? How much blood and gore could you take? And please: I would love to read your counter plot :D I hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter! Take care!  
_

_**ilovefinn924**: TRAITOR! (Probably the wrong fandom but hey XD) Thanks for the praise! I'm happy if you enjoyed it!  
_

_**KarliCM**: Adam Driver (Kylo's actor) is supposed to be over 30 now. He looks like he could starr in High School Musical . And here you go!  
_

_**hokie26**: That's a tough question. I know there is the romance tag online. How do I put this best? Let's try this: This story is far from over. I'm maybe through 1/3 of what I want to tell yet and there is romance already, but probably not between the characters you wish to see together. I want to craft a romance in this story that has a good base to be built on and that's what I am currently doing. Or rather, that's what I did with the chunin exams. There will be more "open" romance hints troughout the story, but I won't throw it in your face yet ;) Also, if there will be certain pairings or not is something I just cannot tell you. It would take away all the fun in reading this story. Please be patient. I want to give you an enjoyable story, which doesn't sound like I just grabbed it from thin air. I hope you still enjoy Finding Papa :) Thank you very much!  
_


	40. Moving Special 2016

_Dear Readers!  
_

_Since I'm moving and won't have any access to the internet via PC in the next 7-14 days, I am giving you a new chapter Finding Papa tomorrow: _Chapter 38: Shizumasa's Story_. Therefore: Please enjoy this small insight about the Fire country's relationsship with the shinoi village! (More below)  
_

**Finding Papa - Moving Special: Sarada's Books I**

* * *

**A short History of the Fire Country**

Chapter 34: A ninja village for the Fire Country

After the inner disturbances described in the last chapter (see 33 _The Issue of Succession_) had been resolved, crown prince Komei ascended to the throne and became the new Daimyo of the Fire country. The crown prince was known for his strict rules and his talent in military operations, which would be needed in the following years. Between MCMXIII and MCMXVIII some smoldering conflicts concerning important players in the country had finally turned into a war:

The fire country, as also most neighboring countries, had been hosting independent military groups of so called shinobi. These groups would sell their services to the highest biding and were known for their reliability. In contrary to normal soldier units or merchants, each and every one of these "shinobi" was equipped with unique abilities to fit any occurring situation. As mentioned before, the house of the Daimyo had paid a group of shinobi occasionally to carry out secret orders (see chapter 23 _Assassinating a Rival_). But abide from assassinations, shinobi families would sometimes escort high-ranking officers through the country, spy on targets or bear witness to important trades – if only they were paid for their services.

Over the years these groups increased, while the market for their so called missions grew narrow. Including the fact that most of these groups weren't fond of each other in the first place, it is a small wonder that they broke out in war with each other.

The two most important groups within the fire country were the families of Senju and Uchiha. Both were rivaling each other in headcount and strength for a long time, until the Uchiha leader Tajima in MCMXXVI miscalculated and lost at least a third of his battle strength in the legendary battle of Sekigahara. His rival, Senju Butsuma, died in battle, but left the position of leader vacant for his son and later first Hokage: Senju Hashirama. The young leader wasn't very experienced, but was able to gather a group of allies to crush the Uchiha. While later ones could only ally themselves with the Uzumaki family, Senju was able to form contracts with important players like the Sarutobi and Akimichi clan, as also the powerful (but rather small) Hyuuga family.

(For more information please read the biography of Senju Hashirama written in MCMLXXXVI by Genzo Murakami.)

While these two factions battled each other, Daimyo Komei instructed his forces to protect villages and cities from the eminent destruction. Over a time span of 7 years, shinobi were forbidden to enter any settlement within the fire country and built a parallel society. Even after the Senju family finally won over their foes of the Uchiha clan and they formed a peace treaty, Komei didn't allow them to reintegrate into society. The Daimyo followed the wish of a majority of his subordinates, who feared and resented the shinobi who had brought grave destruction onto the country within only seven years of war. They pleaded that in their battles and inner turmoil, the shinobi always thought about themselves first. And most residents of the fire country believed it since they, even though they hadn't been a part of the conflict, suffered great loss in form of burned down villages, dead children who happened to be in the crossfire and crop failure due to wheat and rice being trampled down or drowned in blood.

In MCMXIX though, Senju Hashirama got to an agreement with Daimoy Komei: the shinobi families affiliated with the Senju were allowed to settle down in the center part of the fire country. Their settlement would be completely independent from the fire country, with an obligation to the Daimoy's services. Some advisors of Komei opposed the decision, but later reconsidered since this step was meant to finally gain some control over the loose power the shinobi were. The following years of peace made it possible for the shinobi to reintegrate into society to some degree. Their real rise in popularity came with the dead of Daimyo Komei in MCMXXI.

His successor Meiji believed that the death of his father was no coincidence and called all his forces, including the village of Konoha Gakure to arms. It was thanks to the shinobi though, that it could be discovered that Daimyo Komei had actually died of a heart attack and not been assassinated like his father before him. Daimyo Meiji made this information public and ensured his people that it had been the shinobi under Senju Hashirama who had discovered the fact and therefore prohibited another war. (Nobody knows if there truly had been doubts about Komei's death or if the new Daimyo had just been trying to give the shinobi a better name. More in the following chapter.)

The coming years were prosperous. While the village would take on contracts all over the fire country, they would help the Daimyo protect the borders as an equal military power within the land. Having a whole village at hand seemed to be a very nice thing and soon some of the other countries would contract shinobi groups to form villages of their own. But while these villages (example Suna Gakure) were a special branch of the military and therefore answered to the Daimyo of these countries only, Konoha remained autonom.

In the year MCMXXVI the first Hokage retired for unknown reasons and promoted his brother, Senju Tobirama, to be his successor. The villagers voted and Tobirama was chosen as second Hokage over two other candidates, one from the Uchiha family. In contrary to his brother though, Tobirama had problems retaining healthy relationships with his allies. Due to this, the crime rate within the village seemingly rose and he installed the Konoha military police, almost solemnly consisting of members of the Uchiha clan. Through the time of the second Hokage he changed the village from within to be more autocratic, developing more and more institutions within to withstand the pressure Daimyo Meiji and some raging conflicts put on the village.

In MCMXXXIX the second shinobi world war started. The war raging between the newly founded shinobi villages once again inflicted grave damage onto the people of the fire country and the formerly closed rift between the factions reopened. In the last year of the war Senju Tobirama died and appointed his student Sarutobi Hiruzen as his successor in the last battle in MCMXLV. But since only some of his other students witnessed the promotion, the village was left without a true leader for almost a year, in which the shinobi of Konoha Gakure tried to go back to the time before the first war. For example the Hyuuga clan wished to separate or have their very own district to have better control over their members again, the Nara clan rioted because they wished to have more land to have their deer on and the Uchiha were more than upset since their compound was moved from the village center to the outskirts.

All these little components were slowly directing the village towards failure. Daimyo Meiji saw what would happen, but wasn't willing to waste resources on a failing project. After the third voting process failed though, one of the candidates, Sarutobi Hiruzen, asked the Daimyo for his assistance in exchange for authority in the village. With the ruler of the fire country at his back he was able to finally gain the majority of votes in the village and was announced the third Hokage of Konoha Gakure.

For getting supported by the government though, the Hokage had to grant the Daimyo authority in the village, as also some other details that mostly never got revealed to the public. All future decisions (whom to place in certain positions, where to expand the village to, matters of court…) were highly influenced by the Daimyo. Konoha Gakura also had to sign a contract with the fire country to only take on contracts with citizens of said country and to never sign contracts with other countries. The only exception was in cases the Daimyo allowed it.

These new possibilities to influence the shinobi village, gave the next generation of Daimyo the chance to guide the village into a new direction and to integrate it more into the country. Over time it became a more or less independent branch of the military, making the Hokage a high ranking military officer. Hokage Hiruzen also made a deal with the Daimyo, to send 12 of his most capable warriors to the capital city. They were meant to protect the Daimyo additionally to his own guard, ensure safety throughout the city and to work as examples how shinobi truly were.

A great amount of people within the village and the government weren't fond of the newly founded bond, but over time the citizens of the fire country grew closer with the shinobi once more.

While Konoha Gakure was finally getting integrated into the country, another shinobi faction asked for permission to build a settlement in MCMXLIX. On the eastern coast they soon established a small town called Uzushio Gakure. The community was more integrated and closer to the local population, but almost solemnly consisted of members of the Uzumaki clan. In the year MCMLIV the village was given to the whirlpool country as an amendment for war crimes in a previous fight. Four years later in MCMLVIII the country was attacked by a shinobi alliance consisting of the newly founded Iwa Gakure, Kiri Gakure and Kumo Gakure. Because of the village now being a part of the Whirlpool country, the village of Konoha Gakure did not deploy troops to help their former allies.

After the destruction of the so called Uzumaki village, the survivors were permitted citizenship in the fire country as an amendment for not receiving support from Konoha Gakure. Only some accepted.

The era of peace lasted until the break out of the third shinobi world war in MCMLXXV. Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, now a man of late fifties, would move his troops according to the Daimyos wishes and made it possible to keep the bloodshed in the territory of the other countries, keeping the battles away from the Fire country's citizens. Following the end of the war, the new Daimyo Hirohito agreed to back a new candidate as the fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, over the third Hokage's own student Orochimaru.

The fourth Hokage died shortly after being installed in MCMLXXIX, leaving the position open once again for the former Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen to claim it. Following later ones death in MCMXCI after an intervention from the rice country's Oto Gakure and Suna Gakure, the Daimyo tasked the village to find a new suitable candidate to fill the vacant position. In the same year the first Hokage's granddaughter Senju Tsunade was named the fifth Hokage.

While she was in power the Fire country was prosperous and formed the first true alliance between the five great nations and their shinobi villages in MCMXCVI. Due to a battle that destroyed the settlement, she was almost replaced by Shimura Danzou, an older comrade of the former third Hokage.

In cooperation with the Hokage, Daimyo Hirohito decided to give the village some of its sovereignty back, which made it possible for the shinobi to form closer bonds with the other shinobi settlements all over the known world, which last till this current day.

Senju Tsunade retired as Hokage in MCMXCVII in favor of Hatake Kakashi, a student of the fourth Hokage, as the sixth Hokage. While he still cooperated closely with the Fire country, the power relations changed drastically, with the Hokage gaining more and more power on his own. Like in previous times the shinobi villages build a parallel society, centered around their believe in nindou (for further information please consult "The Will of Fire" by Kishimoto Masashi). But on contrary to previous times, they wouldn't center their society on fighting, rather in terms of religion. Until this day their society could be called collectivistic.

In MMVIII Daimyo Hirohito, at the age of 79, happily announced the seventh Hokage of Konoha Gakure: The fourth Hokage's son Uzumaki Naruto. Hirohito also granted the war hero full authority over the village of Konoha Gakure again and intorduced a democratic voiting system into the Fire Country. But more about him in the next chapter.

The long reign of Daimyo Hirohito and the country's change to a modern spirit.

* * *

_Hey Guys!  
_

_As I said above, I'm currently moving to a new flat. It might take a while to get my PC online again, therefore I'm launching this special. Chapter 38 will be out on 26th of February. _

_I know this special might not have been for everybody, since it only scratches the surface of how the village has been working together and not working together with the Fire Country in the manner of a history book. But for the ones who actually read through it: the dates made of roman numbers can be converted to actual dates. I had a hard time finding a good time schedule for when what might have happened and which historic incident might have been the inspiration for Kishiomoto-Sensei. But taking in major events and the age of our beloved original creator, I guess I met the best there was to get. (But to be honest: Kishimoto-Sensei really fucked up his timeline with the first Hokage... I'd love to see his own draft.)  
Also, I won't reveal things like why (I think) Hashirama retired. All these are things I want to write about in _Our Dream_. And even though I haven't updated it in a long time, I'm still writing on it and plan on finishing it.  
Whenever I think of Sarada as a child, I see her sitting on a stack of books, reading. Most of the time because her mother didn't have time for her, her friends weren't done with their homework or she was simply loving what she read. She also wants to know especially about history because of her own family name. She wants to know who the Uchiha were and since her father scarecely gets around and tells her nothing, she takes in any information she gets. Sadly, most records about her family have been lost after the Uchiha massacre: the compound they had lived on got neutralised and new houses have been built. All remaining belongings were now Sasuke's. But he probably never cared about books too much (as an 7-8 year old child). Therefore a lot of these records went into the garbage or are now in private hands.  
I have been thinking a lot about what might have happened. Why the people couldn't settle with Hiruzen as the third Hokage at first, why the Daimyo has a say in the nomination of the future Hokage... But I could fill real books with these ideas and working on _Finding Papa_ and _Our Dream_ already makes me cringe.  
_

_Well, see you tomorrow for the next real chapter and the review answers!_

_Take care,_

_Your Usagi_


	41. Chapter 38: Shizumasa's Story

Chapter 38: Shizumasa's Story

"Stay save," Ako had said. The teacher was finally sure that whatever was going on, was far too much for her and the others to handle. After listening to what Tadashi and Bolt had witnessed, she donned her jonin outfit, put up her hair and instructed Mirai to keep an eye on the children. She was to keep them in the hotel room. Neither was allowed to leave.

Meanwhile, Ako would travel as fast as possible to Konoha Gakure. This was a thing the upper management needed to know about. If possible, Ako would talk to the Hokage directly. He needed to stop the crown prince before it was too late. Even though Ako wasn't even sure there was anything the Hokage could do about it… He could at least protect Shizumasa, Bolt, Tadashi and Sarada. The teacher figured they, as also Mirai and she herself would be on the crown prince's target list as soon as he'd figure out they knew. And as a teacher, it was Ako's job to protect her students.

Before leaving she had Bolt and Tadashi promise to not do anything stupid on their own.

Ako was gone in the early morning hours.

* * *

Sarada had been sitting at the table the whole night. She couldn't sleep, just like the rest of them. Shizumasa, even though still scared and fragile, had been walking up and down the room, sometimes even into the walls he couldn't see. The blonde rapscallion Bolt would have laughed if it hadn't been for his friend's bad state of body. He had been flipping a pen in between his fingers for an hour until Tadashi had asked him to stop. The redhead was calm, but his nerves seemed to be hanging on a thin threat. Mirai Sarutobi was trying to not fall asleep. Watching the kids proved to not be necessary, since they weren't even thinking about doing anything that could be considered stupid. Only Sarada had once asked to leave the room to get some more fresh water. (The tap water in Keishi City, like in many others cities, tasted awful.)

But when Mirai didn't allow it, she went back to thinking. Maybe this was why Saeko had quit being a ninja? The girl remembered the third exam. Her happiness when she knew she didn't have to fight the gruesome girl. But also her disappointment. The fight might have been a good opportunity to show off more of her skills. But there was nothing she could do about it now. And honestly: she had been kind of afraid to face Saeko… But to find out that she had quit to be a part of a coup?

The Uchiha girl was puzzled. She had read so many things about the Daimyo's family. But everything she had read, couldn't even scratch the surface of the things there must be going on. There was one good thing about the news though: Sarada could understand why Shizumasa had been such a prick in the beginning. If his brother had been treating him like this ever since his mother's death, it was fairly understandable that Shizumasa wouldn't act nice towards anybody.

Sarada's thoughts started to wander. She thought about her parents. How different they were. Her mother was always there for her. If possible, she would cook for her daughter, listen to her. Even though Sakura thought that Sarada could be a little strange sometimes (like… when Sarada would rather read books than go out with friends. Or if Sarada had once again forgotten to eat dinner because she was infatuated with a story). But Sakura always treated the girl very well. As good as she could while working double shifts at the hospital.

Her father was a completely different story. Sarada knew, her father probably loved her. Her mother had told her often enough, but it would have been nice to hear it from him once in a while. He had been gone for a little more than half a year already, but she hadn't heard a word from him. Stupid Uchiha, Sarada clenched her teeth. Why again was she always trying to impress a man who was never around anyways?

_Because he is your father_, she answered herself, _and because you want his attention._ But why would I want his attention? He is nothing but another stranger.

_He is your father. And nothing you say or think to yourself will change that. _

But there is nothing I could impress him with. I read each and every book in the library. Heck, I even spend two days in a row, reading all the books in the old bookshop. But there was nothing I could learn to impress him. And breaking into his room next to mine didn't help either. Everything in there is kind of sealed…

_Maybe you should just… let it go? _

Oh don't you sass yourself with Disney now!

"Sarada? Are you alright," a voice right next to her asked. She looked up and came eye to eye with a worried Bolt, "I heard you grinding your teeth. You are only doing that if you are very very unhappy about something…"

"Are you happy with the way things are right now," she rolled her eyes and got up from the ground.

"No, but I don't disturb other with my teeth while pondering. So what's on your mind?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, "just one thing. Shizumasa?" The blind boy turned his head towards her general direction.

"hm…"

Sarada checked Mirai. The guardian shinobi was finally asleep.

"So…" the girl took a chair and sat down on it in front of the bed, "how the hell did you end up in that cellar?"

Bolt decided this would probably be more interesting than watching flies run around the room walls and joined Sarada. Shizumasa sighed. He held out his hands trying to find his way to the bed. At first he ran into the bed post, but he refused Bolt's helping hand. When he finally sat on the bed, he took a deep breath.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't have to. But maybe it's correlated to what your brother has been trying to do lately."

The prince grunted, "and why would that be. I failed a test. That's it."

"And what kind of test makes you lose your eyes and end up in a puddle of your own piss if I may ask?" Tadashi had decided to not sit in a corner any longer, and walked up to the group, "I'm just thirteen, but it sounds an awful lot like a bad night of drinking."

"Sorry," Bolt whispered, "I shouldn't have told him…"

"It wasn't a drinking night! I don't drink alcohol," Shizumasa raised his voice angrily. A snort from Mirai made him jump. He resorted to a whisper, "I'm just 16 and not even legally an adult."

"In that case you should tell us what happened, or we might tell everybody that you are a happy drunk," Bolt dared to threaten the prince with a mocking smile.

"And… correct me if I'm wrong," Sarada whispered, "but didn't you always have your sword with you? Honjo Masamune was it? Where is it now?"

"Oh damn you… Well, listen then. It happened the day I had won against that Setsuna, that girl from Ame Gakure…"

* * *

Shizumasa stood in his room. As a prince he didn't need to share it with any of the other contestants. He carefully detangled his crown and placed it on the bed. It was silver, as only the crown prince was allowed to wear gold. With a swift movement he opened his high ponytail and let his white tresses fall over his shoulders. He liked his hair. His mother had the same hair color, if he remembered correctly.

He had just said good night to Bolt. Together they had watched the fight between Houzuki Suihi and her teammate. They had laughed and talked afterwards. So that's what the people called friendship?

"Interesting," the lordling smiled.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. He reached out for the door knob, but he didn't get the chance to open it, since it was being opened from the outside.

A strict looking gaze met the teenager's icy orbs.

"Brother," Shizumasa quickly lowered his head, as prince Murasaki entered the room, followed by his servants.

"Congratulations," his lips curled into a smile, but his eyes stayed cold, "I just had the opportunity to talk to the Hokage. He will promote you to a chunin."

"Forgive my ignorance brother. But I haven't yet shown my full potential. There won't be a decision until the exam is over."

"Gather your belongings," Murasaki didn't even show if he cared about anything Shizumasa was saying, "we are leaving for the palace now." His gaze lingered on the silver crown on the bed for a second. He then turned around and left the room again. His servants though, started to pack everything.

Shizumasa grabbed Honjo Masamune and followed after his brother. What did he want? Why pull him out of the exam now?

But the lordling didn't dare to ask.

Together they entered a rickshaw. Shizumasa had placed the sword on his lap. He wouldn't let go of it when the servants tried to convince him it would be saver to transport it atop the vehicle.

Neither prince talked as they made their way towards the castle. The rickshaw stopped and Shizumasa followed the crown prince.

"This is not the main entrance," he stated, "brother where are we?"

The area was full of trees and a thin path lead through the woods towards a cave. The entrance was guarded by two stone lion, just like the ones in front of a temple. They were depicted with curly hair. One of them had his mouth open, the other's was closed. Two oil lamps lit up the entrance. Without them, Shizumasa wouldn't have been able to see a thing. It must have been deep in the night already. A strong gust of wind howled through the woods, making Shizumasa's royal clothes flutter.

"Where are we," he asked once more and followed the crown prince into the cave.

"Since you now are a verified chunin," Murasaki explained, leading the way. None of the servants followed, "I have decided that you are ready to conduct a special test."

"Welcome back my price," a female voice said. Around a corner, a woman with short red hair had been waiting for them. Shizumasa couldn't really see her, but she wore glasses and a shinobi getup. There even was a headband, but he couldn't tell what village it was from.

"Is everything ready?"

"As you wished. Everybody is just waiting for your command, my lord," she flashed a smile at the crown prince and took a step back. Finally, Murasaki turned around and faced his brother.

"Shizumasa, you are my brother and a prince of the Fire Country. Do you swear your loyalty to me?"

"I- wait what?"

"Do you swear?"

Shizumasa didn't need a second reminder of his place. He quickly bend a knee and lowered his head, "I swear my loyalty and fealty to the Fire Country, its people and it's ruler, the great Daimyo."

Murasaki's eyes narrowed, if only slightly. "Behind this corner you will find a door. Through it you will enter the stage of your final test. If you are able to pass, you will exit the room through a door on the other side, since this one will be locked. And as soon as you step through it, you will be an official member of the guardian shinobi, destined to protect the Daimyo of the Fire Country."

Shizumasa's heart started pounding. So this was his chance! This was his chance to advance and become something, someone bigger than really anyone had thought he could be! He just needed to pass this test and he would finally have a place in this world.

"Of course brother," Shizumasa rose from the ground and wanted to step around the corner, but Murasaki stopped him.

"I first want you to leave Honjo Masamune with me. You have already shown me that you are capable of using it in combat, but to pass this test you won't need it."

The younger prince was hesitant. "You gave it to me, so that it might be of use. Without it-"

"It is the sigil of the Daimyo after all. And you will never be the Daimyo. But if you pass this test, you shall be granted the title of captain of the twelve guardian shinobi. And with the title, you will finally be able to lawfully wield Honjo Masamune."

Still hesitant, Shizumasa let go of his sword. Murasaki took it and placed it on his own belt, "now go."

Shizumasa nodded and walked around the corner. After taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

The crown prince watched as the red haired woman closed and locked it.

"I hope you and your people know what awaits you if you fail me. You have taken care of the threats in Konoha Gakure?"

She turned around, "we have other contracts all around the world with different factions. We… weren't careful with information about one of these and a certain Uchiha picked it up. He is far away right now. But if you wish, I could check it once more."

"Do so. How do you intend to take care of the Hokage?"

"There is no need to do so," she bowed, "he is obliged to follow any orders the Daimyo gives him. And as long as nobody warns him about your plans, he will one day answer to your father and the next to you. And you needn't concern yourself with my contacts. But are yours safe?"

"Watch your tongue," he reminded her, "just one last thing before you may go: I want a sign that he is dead. Am I clear? Tell your people that Shizumasa is not to leave this cave alive."

"To be honest my prince," the woman was about to turn to the door again, "I still think it would have been better to just leave him alone. Nobody would have ever found out. After his death everybody will search for him."

"Don't question my decisions woman. Know your place. Tell your people to send me something of his that shows me that he is dead. But nothing as trivial as a heart. You could kill any man and bring me his heart."

"What do you wish to receive?"

Murasaki thought for a moment.

"Bring me his eyes. They are unique," Murasaki turned around and left the cave, Honjo Masamune on his belt.

"Just like yours," she mumbled.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shizumasa was facing a group of ninjas. He wouldn't call them shinobi since they weren't wearing a headband. (He didn't even dare to call himself a shinobi yet.) No, these people wore black ragged clothes and tabi shoes. In contrary to the prince, they were armed with kunai and some small blades.

There was no other door.

But when Shizumasa realized it, the door behind him had been locked. He thought, if he just got a hold of a senbo or a kunai, he might be able to open it, but without his sword, Shizumasa didn't stand the slightest chance against these ragged, but highly skilled fighters. They played him like he was an amateur. At first they just blocked his hits. When they got bored, they started to fight back harshly with their kunai. It went on like this for minutes.

At some point they finally brought the proud prince to his knees.

Shizumasa's breath had turned into sharp gasps, as he tried to get up again without losing sight of his opponents. But right in the moment he pushed himself upwards, one of them kicked him into the face. The prince fell backwards, only to be hit in the head again and again.

Each time Shizumasa tried to get up, he was weaker than before. And after another bunch of minutes, he just simply stayed down, trying to ignore the burning pain the hits he received were causing him.

"Is he dead yet?" Some guy pulled him up by his hair to spit in his face. Shizumasa growled.

"Nope, still alive."

"Ask Karin-san what her contractor wants us to do with the prince."

Steps, knocking, metal scratching on metal, a door opening.

"Are you done yet," the voice of the woman from before.

Who was the contractor, Shizumasa's head spun much like his surroundings when he tried to see what was going on, Murasaki? Had his brother asked them to do this to him?

"He doesn't care about what you do to him. As long as he gets this one's eyes and he never resurfaces again, you can sell him for as much as he cares. Or if he eats too much, you could just kill him."

"Aaaah no killing. We always need cheap laborers. Well let's see." The voice grew closer as Shizumasa heard steps. A high sound. Somebody had unsheathed a knife.

Shizumasa tried to get up one last time, but the men laughed. One of them grabbed his long white hair in a tight grip, bending the lordling's body back. Another one took a hold of his face. He examined the prince's features.

"You are a pretty one. Maybe we can even sell you as a prostitute. It's almost a shame to give your eyes away. You will be worth less without their passionate stare," the man seemed to grin. Shizumasa couldn't really tell.

He then felt two different hands grab his face, cold metal came closer to his face. Shizumasa tried to get out of their grip, tried to free himself. He was afraid. Truly-

Pain. Unbearable pain.

Warm blood.

Screaming.

Darkness.

End of Chapter 38

* * *

**_Here you go!_**

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Kind of. I mean... yeah. Gruesome end. Ok I'll shut up._

_And oooooh how long did I want to tell you the story of what happened to Shizumasa. Why he winded up in that dungeon. And everything. And how I want to tell you how this story will progress... damn. How do you think the kids will feel after hearing this story? Will Ako be able to reach Naruto before shit hits the fan? Heck - how do you feel?! _

_As I wrote in the moving special, I am moving into a new flat. Until I have my internet back on, all I can do is write, but probably not upload. I'll see what I can do. Also I'm starting my new job on Tuesday! Wish me luck :3 _

_I hope to see you soon! Please leave a reviw or write me a PM!  
Thank you for reading Finding Papa!_

**_Your Usagi_**

_P.S. Naruto Shippuuden finally left the freaking fillers! And now we will learn everythign about Itachi that we kind of imagined ourself because it was totally left open in the manga and the novels haven't yet been published outside Japan (?)... I hope it'll be great! I hope..._

* * *

**_Review Answers_**

_Thanks to **Scarease**, **twillight3**, **KarliCM** and **Dark princess** for reviewing this story! Thank you all soooooooo much!_

_**SoundlessWorld**: Thank you for the kind review! For Saeko's reasoning... I can't tell you anything about it yet. But it will probably either make you totally facepalm or stop reading the story. I hope for the first reactin ;) ... Filler. Filler chapters?! T.T You may not see the reason for these chapters yet, but just throwing Bolt into the castel didn't seem right to me... Filler... That one hurt . Because they really feel like filler... aaaaaaahhhhh see you soon...  
_

_**IamWhatIamBaby**: Thank you for all the praise. I probably don't deserve these, but reading your review made me cry a little. All of this story has been planned out from the beginning. The general direction at least ;) And this arc was settled when I had first introduced Shizumasa. Thank you for noticing :) You are great... AND I am going to correct the mistake. Just a second. Sometimes these things just slip by. Thank you so much again! Take care!  
_

_**Guest**: Thank you for your most kind review. I hope you enjoy reading Finding Papa. Please go on and tell me your thoughts on it any time! For the updates: I usually try to update weekly. But lately I haven't really been inspired (lack of quality Naruto conent I guess) and therefore the updates have been rather unregulary. I'll keep on trying! See you soon!  
_


	42. Chapter 39: It's our time (to shine)

Chapter 39: It's our time (to shine)

"…and can you please have a look at the construction plans the Tengai company provided for their new headquarters?"

"Wait… which one was it…? The new skyscraper at the upper west side or the farm house to the south?"

"I am talking about the one downtown upper hill," Shikamaru sighed, "I know that you have a lot of stuff in your head, but please concentrate. You have an appointment with the landlord of the swamp lands."

"Please help me," Naruto buried his face in his hands, trying to remember who that landlord was, "what was the reason for meeting him again?"

"Because he owns the swamp, we cannot expand the village into the west. And the money he wants for the marshes is just not acceptable."

"Are you sure it would be a good idea to send me? I am not good at bargaining…"

"You were able to convince Obito Uchiha to change sides and now you are telling me you are not good at negotiating?"

"It's not about that," Naruto rested his head on top of his desk. He closed his eyes, "with Obito I knew that he wasn't all bad. He was actually a pretty good guy whom bad things had happened to. And all I had to do was tell him that he should do better. But this..?" He held up a paper with numbers and demands. "I could try and convince an elephant that he is a mosquito before I get these."

"Stop whining. That's what it means to be Hokage. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to. Or you will have to stop expanding the village," Shikamaru took a paper stack and started to sort them out. Naruto looked at him bewildered.

"You said that expanding the village was good for the economy in the village which was good for the employment rate and that a lot of employed villagers were happy villagers?"

The adviser thought for a moment. He then smiled, "something like that."

"Then there is no way I'm going to not do this," Naruto enthusiastically jumped onto his feet and grabbed the papers. He stared at them for a second before his gaze became hazy again.

"So… who was I gonna meet later?"

"Haaaaaaaaah… How irritating," Shikamaru sighed, just as someone knocked at the door.

"Yes?"

A young woman entered.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have news from the disciphering and testing labs concerning the…"

"The what," Naruto was clueless. The woman leaned forward, "you know… the thing the falcon brought over?"

Naruto jumped up.

"Sorry Shikamaru, but this is much more important!" And he was out of the door, dragging the girl with him. The adviser shook his head.

"Always…"

* * *

It was afternoon. The sun was slowly getting closer to the horizon, shining some last warm rays on top of the skyscrapers. It was a Wednesday. The streets were crowded with business men and women on their way home, or to drinking parties. The restaurants called the pedestrians in with the smell of fresh food. But most crowded together inside the maglev outbound to the suburbs. In comparison to the days before it had been quite warm. For the first time in the year they could hear cicadas.

"This might be good. They are loud enough to cover our footsteps."

Bolt bent down. He was standing on a branch. The greens were covering him, but he still got a pretty good view outside.

"Sad if you need cicadas because you can't tip-toe."

The snarky comment came from next to him. Sarada was studying the blue print of a house, "so you say we can get in from behind?" She turned her head to the person next to her.

Shizumasa was leaning there at the tree. He had grabbed the bark to be safe somewhat, but his feet where still moving over the tree branch, searching for a good hold.

"It's the entrance we always took when we came home late or when the public wasn't supposed to know we left."

"So it's guarded?"

"You need to activate a mechanism to open the entrance. It's a small button at-"

"And the only one who knows where it is, is a blind twat."

"Don't you dare call me that! I am your-"

"You're not my freaking-"

"Shut the hell up," Sarada put a hand on Tadashis mouth. The redhead had insisted on coming with them instead of making sure that Mirai didn't find out they had left the hotel room.

"Thank you Sarada," Shizumasa replied cold, "I was getting sick of his voice."

Wow. Being blind didn't teach him humility. Not. One. Bit. What a prick.

Sarada grinned instead of saying what she thought. Until she remembered that he couldn't see it anyways.

"Let's get to the back," Bolt reminded his friends of what they were about to do. He was serious. More serious than he had been in a long time.

They had hurt his friend.

They wouldn't get a second chance to do anything like it again.

* * *

The group quietly made it behind the castle when the sun had almost vanished in the west.

It had fallen to Sarada to help Shizumasa move around. Bolt had conveniently discovered his sense of danger and Tadashi didn't feel like he could provide "good" help to a blind sixteen year old. Thankfully, the lordling hadn't seen Sarada roll her eyes. They had to move slowly to not raise attention. There had still been some people in the park around the castle – not to forget the guards. On the other hand, the back side of the castle wasn't watched as much.

Bolt carefully checked for unwanted eyes. If just anybody spotted them, they would be in deep trouble. If they got caught this time, the guards would surely call the Hokage. The incident would start to be less about children trying to sneak into a place they were not supposed to be at, but rather about Konoha shinobi trying to break into their liege lord's castle, disobeying direct orders form their superiors. The blonde was sweating somewhat. He wasn't sure if he was the right one to be watching in the front. This was Sarada's job. But she was busy trying to figure out how to deal with the blind lordling. And that was a task he wouldn't dare to take on in a million years.

With a wave of his hand Bolt signaled that the path was clear.

The teens tip-toed after him across the gravel.

"So where was that back exit exactly," Sarada looked at Shizumasa. He didn't react.

"I'm talking to you Shizumasa," she poked him in the side.

"Oh, sorry," he whispered back," at the entrance are two oil-lamps. If you pull the one on the right, there should open a small hole beneath it. That's the entrance. "

Bolt had listened and carefully walked up to the palace wall. No guards here either. The blonde grabbed the oil lamp, almost burning his fingers. It had probably been lit an hour or two ago and the metal handle was quick to heat up. He pulled it nonetheless. With a loud crack a lock opened and a small door in the wall opened. It only cracked open far enough for the blonde to get his fingers in between the door and the wall. He lured inside. A narrow, wooden staircase lead beneath the earth.

"Ok, come on now," Bolt waved his friends and helped them inside one after another, Tadashi going first to make sure it was save, followed by Sarada and Shizumasa. Bolt went last and quietly closed the door behind them.

The staircase lead into a deep tunnel its walls were made of loose earth and dirt, white the ground was nothing but stomped on mud. In the far distance Tadashi could see a faint light.

"Ok this is kind of cool," the red head whispered.

"Go on straight and don't take a turn. Right in front of us should be the armory and from there on we can get to the old well easily. From there on it's just a jump in the right direction to get to my brothers chambers and stop him," there was anger in Shizumasa's voice.

"Ok let's go. I'll take the lead again," Bolt nodded and changed positions with Tadashi again.

"You do know that we can't take you with us to the top right," Sarada whispered towards the lordling.

"I will go. You can't stop me. It's my fucking family we are talking about," he grunted.

"You cannot fight in the state you are in. You will only be a liability for us. If you want to stop your brother, you should let us do the work."

"You are right," he nodded, "but I will not have you fight my battles. I am not my brother And if you say I can't fight without my eyes… Well there is always a first time for everything."

Sarada sighed, "There is no way I can make you stay down here, is there?"

Shizumasa simply shook his head.

They had almost reached the armory, when Sarada bumped into Bolt.

"Why did you-" but the blonde just held out an arm to silence her.

"I didn't think I'd meet you guys here," a familiar voice echoed in the tunnel, coming from the armory right in front of them.

"Boy watch out where you're going," Tadashi started to complain after bumping into Shizumasa's back, but he shut up when he saw why they had stopped.

A girl was blocking the path into the armory. She had chin long white hair and each eye seemed to glimmer a different color: one lilac, the other almost red. The tiny silhouette seemed many times bigger than it actually was, thanks to a huge sword on her back.

"You really shouldn't be here," Suihi Houzuki started kneading her fingers, as if their presence made her feel uncomfortable, "go back."

"Suihi…" Sarada stared at her. This didn't make any sense. The girl wasn't supposed to be in the castle of the fire country's Daimyo. But so weren't they.

"Let us pass," Bolt quietly asked. He sounded almost polite.

"No," Suihi brought her hand up to her lips, "I have orders that no one can pass. Try again tomorrow."

"Let's go," Bolt didn't stop watching Suihi, as they carefully walked around her, their back to the wall, and he was right to do so.

The second they passed the place she stood at, she quickly grabbed her sword and let the metal crash into the wall.

She could have split a head in two, but Bolt had been on guard. With a quick reaction, he wrapped a chain around the assembly blade and made it change its course slightly. Instead of killing them, it only got stuck in the dirt wall. His friends had stopped walking. Sarada seemed like she was about to let go of Shizumasas hand and start a fight with Suihi, but Bolt held out his arm again.

"You guys go and protect our prince," he said without looking at his friends, "both of you are far stronger than me in combat and you can protect Shizumasa and stop this take-over attempt."

"Are you trying to get yourself killed," Sarada asked. She remembered the X-shaped wound he had gotten the last time he had faced the girl. Bolt seemed to remember too. He unconsciously grabbed his shirts tissue right over the fresh scar.

"Don't worry about me. I have fought her before and I assure you, this time she won't have the upper hand."

"Are you sure," Sarada asked. Shizumasa was dead silent, but he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Just go," Bolt barked at her, now looking back with a fierce look of determination in his eyes, "go and protect the freaking Daimyo! We don't have time to argue! I'll be right behind you!"

Sarada still didn't look like she was going to move. She stared back into Bolt's eyes. Worried, angry, sad and afraid.

"Don't die," she whispered.

"I won't. I promise."

"let's go."

Tadashi took Sarada's free hand and quickly pulled her away from the huge sword stuck in the wall.

She didn't look back. Instead Sarada freed her hand from Tadashi's grip and pulled on Shizumasa's.

"Where to now," she asked roughly.

"We need to take the servants door. It will bring us straight to the Daimyos quarters," Shizumasa explained, "it's the smallest door. It's probably the same color as the wood on the walls."

"You guys love your hidden doorways, don't you."

Tadashi had reached the armory first. It was a huge hall with weapon rags, baskets, leather armor and chests. The floor was made of drift wood, the walls were covered in a chestnut wainscoting.

The servants door was on the other side of the room. They were finally beneath the castle. When Tadashi opened the door, a loud bang made the ground shake. A dust cloud burst into the armory from the tunnel. Sarada stared at it for a moment, but Tadashi pushed her into the servants' corridor.

"He can do this."

"I know."

They ran quickly, always following Shizumasas instructions. It was weird though: there were no people. No guards, servants, nobody. As if someone had commanded literally everyone to take a day off.

"Why didn't anybody question this," Sarada whispered, "I mean, it's fishy to not have any servants around."

"When you get a direct command from the crown prince, you obey without thinking. How do you think I got myself into this mess," Shizumasa grunted, "we need to take the stairs beneath the 'royal chambers' sign."

"We just passed that one," Tadashi looked like he was slightly annoyed. He lead them back. The dust from before seemed to slowly creep into the servants corridor too. There was another ear cracking bang, but this time they didn't turn around or stop. Without hesitation they jumped onto the staircase and ran up.

"Wait," Shizumasa said, but he stumbled and fell before the others could react. They now were on the first or maybe second level. The dust cloud from downstairs was out of sight, but the ground shook.

"Sorry," the lordling said, trying to get up again, "I'm ust not used to-"

He didn't finish his sentence. Sarada coulnd't see what it was, but something had grabbed his ankle and pulled him towards the paper wall to their right. He got simply pulled through.

"Shizumasa," Sarada gasped and jumped after him into the room.

The lordling was hanging upside down from the ceiling. He was being held up by almost white sand.

"I thought there was an intruder, a servant that didn't belong here, but it was just two rats. I will take care of you right here and now. I can't have you stay to be seen by grandma after all."

Sarada quickly grabbed a kunai and was up and about attacking the neatly dressed girl in front of her, but Tadashi had recognized his sisters voice.

"Saeko," he stood beside Sarada, "please let him down. You do look lovely tonight. Who put up your hair? And who gave you the kimono? It's new, isn't it?"

Shizumasa dropped onto the tatami-floor like a wet sack. He hit his bald head and rubbed it.

"Brother… why are you here? You should be at home. Grandma said you were at home…"

"Who gave you the kimono," Tadashi searched his jacket for his fight-fans.

"It was a wedding gift by my future-"

"Yeah about that, not going to happen," the red haired boy had a sad smile on his face, "let's go home Saeko."

"Tadashi no," Sarada looked at him, "I will keep her busy. You take Shizumasa."

"Wait what? You don't stand a chance!"

"And Bolt has no chance against Suihi either! But we will keep them busy until you and Shizumasa got the Daimyo out of here! She can't hurt you, she won't hurt you and we will use that to our advantage," Sarada tipped her glasses. Her eyes shone deep red already.

"You are both mad! Why do you want to play the tragic hero so damn much?!"

"Maybe…." Sarada whispered, "Maybe because we are tired of seeing other people fight our battles? We have always been overshadowed by our 'awesome' parents. It's our time to shine now."

Tadashi shook his head, but grabbed Shizumasas shoulder nonetheless, "you are freaking mad. But good luck anyways. She won't go easy on you."

"See you later. We'll catch up," Sarada grinned and cut Saeko off, when she tried to follow the other two through the hole in the wall and up the staircase.

"I'm sorry princess," Sarada bowed mockingly, "but your business is with me…"

Saeko was furious. The sand rose slowly…

End of chapter 39

* * *

_So this is the part when shit hits the fan - sorry - I forgot_

**_It's been a while everybody! How are you!_**

_I don't know what to say... I'd love to apologize for not updating, but really, I don't want to. With my new work I just don't have the energy to write good cöntent for this story. And I don't want to give you half assed content. And it really gets to me, that we are not getting good Naruto content lately. It truly sucks. _

_But here you go, one more chapter, the next few are actually already in the making. I still need to reread this chapter and correct the last one. _

_Thank you all for staying with Finding Papa till this point - Chapter 50 will mark 50% done and I'm not gonna stop writing until I got this story out of my system. _

_I love you guys!_

_See you soon_

**_Usagi_**


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